Police in Katsina have arrested the owner of a rehabilitation centre in Daura housing over 300 inmates which it said have been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.
Katsina police commissioner, Sanusi Buba, who led the operation around 1 pm on Monday expressed shock at the new discovery.
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The centre is located at Nasarawa Quarters, Sabongari area of Daura.
The centre’s owner, Bello Maialmajri, 78, was arrested alongside two other men whose names were not disclosed.
Maialmajri had allegedly handed the daily running of the centre to his son, Umar, who has taken to flight.
Some of the teachers were said to have sexually molested the inmates at the centre.
Police in Kaduna had last month uncovered an Islamic school where 300 boys were found chained.
“We learnt that the inmates here are over 300. The inmates revolted yesterday (Sunday) because of the inhuman treatment they were being subjected to,” Mr Buba said.
“Some of the inmates escaped while the ones you are seeing, about 60, stayed back. The inmates are from various parts of Nigeria, including Katsina, as well as from Niger Republic. I will meet with the Emir of Daura and Governor Aminu Masari on the issue. We will do the profiling of the remaining inmates to determine where they are from and we will thereafter appeal to their parents and their guardians to come and collect them.”
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He added: “As you heard from the inmates, apart from being subjected to inhuman treatment, some of their so-called teachers practised homosexual acts with them. Although the teachers escaped when my men came here after the inmates revolted, we shall get all of them and they would face the full wrath of the law.”
A 16-year-old inmate, Abubakar Saminu, said his parents brought him to the centre because of his stealing habits.
