The police in Kaduna on Thursday raided a home with over 300 people in Rigasa in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The cops freed about 300 people who were chained in the house, including children.
They were said to be from Burkina Faso, Mali and other African countries, according to the force.
The children were said to have confessed to being abused homosexually.
Some of the others were said to have been subjected to daily recitation of the Holy Quran and prayers with torture.
According to Bello Hamza, a 42-year-old inmate, he was tricked to the centre by his family who are interested in taking “over my share of our inheritance.”
“I have spent three months here. I am supposed to be pursuing my Masters at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
“This is supposed to be an Islamic centre, but trying to run away from here attracts severe punishment, they tie people and hang them to the ceiling. However, engaging in homosexuality attracts no punishment.”
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Police, Ali Janga, said, “We received information that something is going on in this rehabilitation centre or Islamic centre. On getting here, we discovered that this is neither a rehabilitation centre nor Islamic school.
“The man who is operating this home claimed that parents brought their children here for rehabilitation. But, from the look of things, this is not a rehabilitation centre. No reasonable parent will bring their children to this place.
The proprietor of the centre called Malam said all they did in the centre was the teaching of Islam.
He stated, “All those allegations of torture, dehumanisation and homosexuality are false and mere allegations. We do nothing here other than teaching people Islam.
Report and photo by The Punch