Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai led some policemen to raid another rehabilitation home, ‘Malam Nigga Rehabilitation Centre’ in Rigasa in Igabi Local Government Area of the State.
At the centre, 147 men, women and children were rescued.
The victims comprise of 125 males and 22 females. Among them were four foreigners from Cameron and Niger Republic as well as underaged children.
They have all been taken into the protective custody of the Kaduna State Government.
This is coming less than a month after the police raided an Islamic centre at the same Rigasa in Igabi LGA of the state, evacuating 300 persons, who were chained.
The police claimed the victims were from Burkina Faso, Mali and other African countries. Some of the children were rescued and placed under protective custody by the state government while the owner of the centre and teachers were charged to court by the state.
The Kaduna State Police Command has confirmed the raid.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Yakubu Sabo who confirmed the incident, said thorough investigation would be carried and that the owner of the centre who is already in the custody of the police, would be further quizzed.
Sabo said the governor personally led the police to the centre to ascertain what was happening there.
He also explained that the owner of the centre said the children under his custody at the centre were brought by their parents.
The police chief said, “The governor led the police to the rehabilitation centre to find out what was happening. The centre claimed that it was certified to rehabilitate and train people in skills acquisition.
“The owner said they were brought by their parents to undergo rehabilitation as a result of drug abuse or other forms mental sickness. We will investigate and find out why the people were chained.
“The owner has been arrested and the children have been taken to Hajj camp by the state government for medical checks and eventual reunion with their parents.”
Meanwhile, policemen have been deployed to guard the inmates at the Hajj camp at the Mando area of the state.
The Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Hafsat Baba, who confirmed to newsmen that 22 of the victims were were females while four were foreigners, said that some of the victims were indeed mentally ill.
She, however, added that the state had contacted a psychiatric doctor to come and examined them.
The Commissioner said, “The number of inmates evacuated from the centre was 147 in total among them 22 females while four were foreigners from Niger and Cameroon.
“We also have underage among the inmates and those who are not mentally stable. We have contacted a psychiatric doctor who will come to examine them.”
NOTE:
This rehabilitation centre has been in the eye of the storm all this while owing to the fact that the son of a prominent chieftain of the APC from Kano state has one of his sons as an inmate in this rehabilitation centre and had consistently, used his influence to ward off any attempt to close down the place. Also, a powerful petroleum dealer with mega fuel stations across the north, also has his child as an inmate in using several other prominent political figures.
