REFILE-Nigerian police rescue 67 from "inhuman" conditions at Islamic "school"

(Fixes garbled names throughout)
By Ahmed Kingimi
MAIDUGUIRI, Nigeria, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Police in northern
Nigeria rescued nearly 70 men and boys from a second purported
Islamic school where they were shackled and subjected to
"inhuman and degrading treatments."
The raid in Katsina, the northwestern home state of
President Muhammadu Buhari, came less a month after about 300
men and boys were freed from another supposed Islamic school in
neighbouring Kaduna state where they were allegedly tortured and
sexually abused. "In the course of investigation, sixty-seven persons from
the ages of 7 to 40 years were found shackled with chains,"
Katsina police spokesman Sanusi Buba said in a statement.
"Victims were also found to have been subjected to various
inhuman and degrading treatments."
The raid occurred on October 12 in Sabon Garin in the Daura
local government area of Katsina state. Police issued a
statement on Monday and said they were working to reunite the
victims with their families.
Police arrested one man, 78-year-old Mallam Bello Abdullahi
Umar, for running what they called an "illegal detention/remand
home."
Lawai Musa, a trader who lived near the centre, told Reuters
by phone that families sent unruly men and boys there believing
it was an Islamic teaching facility that would straighten them
out and teach them Islamic beliefs.
"The way he is treating the children is un-Islamic" he said.
"We are not happy, they were treated illegally."
Islamic schools, known as Almajiris, are common across the
mostly Muslim north of Nigeria. Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), a
local organisation, estimates about 10 million children attend
them.
In June, President Buhari, himself a Muslim, said the
government planned to ban the schools, but would not do so
immediately. After the incident in Kaduna, the president issued
a statement calling on traditional authorities to work with
government to expose "unwanted cultural practices that amount to
the abuse of children."
Buhari's office declined to immediately comment on the
Katsina raid, saying it would issue a statement after a full
briefing from police.
"The command enjoins parents to desist from taking their
children/wards to illegal, unauthorized or unapproved
remand/rehabilitation centres," the police statement said.