This Is Outraging, But Nigerians Are Not Outraged. Why?

KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - When Jibril had tried to escape as a boy from an institution in Nigeria that called itself a place of Islamic teachings, he said he was hung up by his arms until bones in his shoulders broke.

Another teenager, one of about 400 men and boys freed in Thursday's police raid, said boys were often kept in chains and those caught stealing food were whipped until they bled.

"They used car engine belts and electrical cables to flog us," 15-year-old Suleiman told Reuters, staring at the floor. "Teachers used to sexually harass us ... They tried to loosen my pants once but I fought them off and was beaten."

Horror stories are emerging about life in a two-storey house in Nigeria's northern city of Kaduna as the authorities try to find families of the victims who often spent years at the site.

Police arrested seven adults in the raid on the building, which had a sign in Arabic at the entrance declaring itself "House of Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal for the Application of Islamic Teachings".

Some parents paid fees, believing it was an Islamic school. Some described it as a good institution and dismissed talk of abuse. Others saw it as a correctional facility. Police and regional officials said it was not registered as either.

Despite mixed accounts about its role, the abuse reported by victims has thrown a spotlight on Nigeria's struggle to provide enough school places for its rapidly expanding population, leaving a gap for unregulated institutions that poor parents sometimes turn to.

The West African nation's population will swell from 190 million to 400 million by 2050, according to U.N. figures. Primary education is officially free but about 10.5 million Nigerian children aged five to 14 are not in school.

"Nigeria is facing a demographic tidal wave," said Matthew Page, an associate fellow with the Africa Programme at Britain's Royal Institute of International Affairs.

"The long-term viability of the Nigerian economy - and the state itself - hinges on the government, religious, and traditional institutions developing a plan to address this challenge before it becomes impossible to remedy," he said.

Prior to Thursday's police raid, those who made it out of the Kaduna institution were sometimes returned by families. Some parents said they needed to discipline wayward children and others said they were too poor to look after all their kids.

Kaduna state government said there were at least 77 boys under 18 years old held there. The youngest was five.

Reuters spoke with seven victims and five parents of those who had been inside, withholding their full names to protect their privacy.

SHACKLED

All the victims said beatings were regular and said children and men were frequently shackled. Days were dark, long and hungry: food was only served at 10 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Suleiman's elder brother sent him to the institution five months ago for skipping school. He was signed up to board while he studied Arabic and Islam's holy book, the Quran.

"They beat us everywhere in the house, even in the mosque. If you asked to speak with your family, they would shackle you," said the 15-year-old, who showed sores, scabs and scars on back.

When Suleiman and three friends were caught trying to steal some garri - a staple food made from cassava shavings - they were stripped and whipped, he said.

"When the police raided the school the whole place was in pandemonium, we were so happy," he said. "What I want now is to return home. I'll be a good boy."Jibril, now 17 and who was hung up for trying to escape when he was 10, said boys faced a stark choice: submit to regular sexual assault or be beaten. Jibril chose beatings.

"The teachers and prefects raped boys. Those who were sexually molested were enticed with canned fish. Those of us who refused were caned," he said, blaming a scar beside his left eye on a caning. "They used planks of wood to beat us."

He now struggles to raise his arms since his punishment for trying to escape. He was sent home for six months after that incident. His family returned him when he had healed.

Jibril and Suleiman are now in a safehouse on the edge of Kaduna while the authorities try to find their relatives. Their temporary home is filled with laughter as boys and teenagers, up to 17 years old, play together. Those adults who were freed are staying in a neighboring building.

At the Kaduna institution, relatives were not allowed to see boys for three months after admission and had limited visiting rights after that, parents and children said. Punishment was swift for those who talked of any abuse, boys said.

"If anyone tried to tell their family, they would be hung up from a wall or put in chains," said 14-year-old Umar, whose grandfather sent him to the facility two years ago for skipping school.

SEXUAL ABUSE

About 40 police officers finally raided the building, acting on a complaint by an uncle who was denied access to his nephews.

Police said they found several boys and men in chains. Reuters filmed victims in chains on Thursday after the raid. Some boys said they were shackled to broken power generators, which they dragged around, including to bed or the bathroom.

Police said they expected to charge seven people, who they said ran the institution, over physical and sexual abuse allegations. Those arrested could not be reached for comment.

The building lies in Rigasa, a rundown Muslim district of Kaduna, a city that, like Nigeria, is evenly split between Muslims and Christians.

Reuters journalists who visited the labyrinthine building saw wheels and generators attached to metal chains. Floors were strewn with litter and stained sponge mattresses. Flies swarmed.

Children begged in the traffic on the streets outside.

Islamic schools, known as Almajiris, are common across the mostly Muslim north of Nigeria. Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), a local organization, estimates about 10 million children attend Islamic schools in the north.

President Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim, has sought to encourage school attendance, with programs that include one offering free school meals that the government says reaches 9.8 million children in 32 of Nigeria's 36 states.

But Nigeria, an oil producing state whose finances by the government's admission have been drained by corruption, only spends 0.5% of gross domestic product on health and 1.7% on education, among the lowest worldwide, the International Monetary Fund said.

With few options, some parents defended the Kaduna institution, which charged fees of 35,000 naira ($114) a term.

"There is no problem in this school," said a woman who only gave her name as Zainab, wearing a Muslim veil and speaking outside the locked gates. She said she had seven children at the institution where she cooked meals and had not seen any abuse.

Ahmed Balrabe, a tailor who lives next to the site, said two of his children attended the school and he had never encountered any abuse. "It was good for them, they became calm," he said. "They showed them how to read the Quran. I liked it."

(Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Additional reporting by Garba Muhammad and Afolabi Sotunde; Editing by Katharine Houreld and Edmund Blair)


https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN1WE0F7

l have been lazy to read this episode, someone should summarise it

Bad in all ramifications

When Bbn finish, then they'll be outraged

Nigerians are not normal


We have misplaced priorities

When we start placing our priorities right and going after them, Nigeria will become a better place but until then it's a shiiithole country

I rest my case

It's the accurate practice of Islamic teachings

There are thousands more of such schools in the middle belt and the north.
You will be shocked at the horror those kids pass through and the amount of hate they are being and taught in those quranic schools.

They can hold a protest to 'free Tacha' but they cannot hold a protest against bad governance. The yeyebrities among them can donate millions to people whose only contribution to society is displaying the sensitive and private parts of their anatomy to the viewing public, but cannot donate to health, education and infrastructural development. Let me not even go too far- right here on Nairaland there is even a thread dedicated to discussing the useless and meaningless antics of adults locked up in a house, and that thread has several hundred pages, but none to discuss societal issues and challenges with a view to mapping out a plan to tackle these issues.

This is why we will keep having hopeless, satanic, thieving people ruling us because we lack vision and our moral compasses are almost irreversibly broken. I gave up on Nigeria a long time ago.

devlishGINGER:
It's the accurate practice of Islamic teachings

There are thousands more of such schools in the middle belt and the north.
You will be shocked at the horror those kids pass through and the amount of hate they are being and taught in those quranic schools.

The mind boggles.

It's so sad. I remembered how some months ago Nigerians were vocal over some Pastor and a lady over rape issues.. Even though the rape was not substantiated, Some angry Nigerians went as far as demonstrating in front of the church of the Accused..

A lot of people were sitting on the fence due to lack of evidence. But those that didn't say anything were still happy that at least this kind of thing is now being talked about.. That the citizens are now awake and can finally express their happiness and also register their displeasure as well to make Nigeria a better place..

But It was so sad to realise that those strong vocal opinions on the Internet was just once in a blue moon and it's done only when it concerns the elite in the society... Meaning that the poor and the voiceless ones should be used to what was happening to them.. how I wish that it was also extended to the poor in terms of fighting their plight in the society.

Prior to Thursday's police raid, those who made it out of the Kaduna institution were sometimes returned by families. Some parents said they needed to discipline wayward children and others said they were too poor to look after all their kids.

Do you expect the South to cry more than the affected Northerners...

They are obviously not complaining... the only problem is that this unguarded population explosion is affecting us all..

The ugly side of religion.

Catholic priests defiling altar boys, Imams and Arabic instructors raping little boys and enticing them with canned fish. Fraudulent gods of men soliciting aggressively for monetary seeds, and on top of that conducting “sexual healings and ministrations” on married and single women.


Oh...the shenanigans of religion.

Outrage ko Inrage ni...

Muric and co never drop press statement abt dt shii and u wan make I carry am for head.

Why exactly shld Nigerians b enraged? U want a religious war to ensue? Wen a governor married an underage bride, Nigerians were enraged but to what effect? We were told it's part of their religion. Till date Child marriage is still well celebrated. Nigerians have countlessly complained about d Almajiri system in d region but sentiments from d region will not allow dem see reason.. Wat shld Nigerians b enraged about?

I now understand that it is jealousy from not understanding and/or not being able to pay to watch BBNaija that has people castigating its viewers. Lol. This is a case of a disabled child cursing able bodied ones for engaging in athletic activities. Poverty mentality is too rife in this forum. I wonder how most of you get data. It is not much of a mystery because I see some users complain of network cheats not being available.

R

Na them them,backward set of people and the south cant unite and put these people where they belong.

OP, you cannot save people who do not want to be saved.

their parents loves it

I have witnessed these tortures..... Not as a victim though.

How the imam whip 5 year old children with vehicle fan belts, belt for grinding machine, koboko.... all in the name of learning Quran.

Well, it's not surprising when they grow up so intolerant and kill others for not believing what was forcefully instilled in them as a child.

When even as a child, you re left on the street to fend for food at a very tender age and you must return to the school on time and recite all arabic passages you didn't have time to practice

Because it requires wisdom before law enforcement agent CHANGED IT for you

Only if you understand what I mean

the brains of most Nigerians are in chains of pleasure, for example, BBN, gbe body e, shake shaku. We have indeed kicked our penalty to throwing.

Leave these northerners alone as their mothers acknowledged the slavery and oppression.Waiting for MURIC response to this issue.

Bbnaija

What is my business with the boko north?

Wetin concern bird with toothpicks


They said Islamists are only after their fellow Islamists..

As we say... Na dem dem

Have you seen Muric issue a statement?

There is no fuss here

Our rage fixes nothing

There's something like this in Ibadan. There was time my stubborn friend was registered there, the guy almost run mad because of the kind of treatment they receive there. He memorized the entire Quran in less than six months because if not he's dead. After been freed, the guy later became harder criminal and he'll always say " na there I take get mind"

May God bless us because I think poverty is one of the things that reduces our thinking capacity. How can a parent register their ward in such a deadly place.

And mind you, they always sign that no case if the ward died on their watch.