The police command in Kano says it rescued 126
workers held hostage for three months at Popular
Farms and Mills Limited located in Challawa Industrial
Estate area of the state.


Abdullahi Haruna, police public relations officer who
confirmed the incident, said on June 21 a complaint
was received from Global Community for Human Rights
Network, Kano, that some labourers were wrongly
confined inside the said mill.

“On receiving the information a team of policemen was
deployed and when a search was conducted, 126
labourers trapped inside the factory for three months
were rescued,” he said.

According to him, four officials of the factory have been
arrested and investigation has commenced to “unravel
facts of the matter”.

The workers reportedly said they were denied exit from
the mill since the beginning of the nationwide lockdown
imposed in March for fear of importing COVID-19 into
the factory.

They said they were promised an increase in their
monthly salary, and that those who did not accept were
threatened with dismissal.

The workers alleged that they were forced to work in
poor condition during their lock up.

“We were treated like slaves for three months,” one of
the freed workers was quoted to have said.

“We were all set free on Monday. It was a nasty
experience…I don’t know how to describe the food we
were fed with. The head of the administration recruited
one woman who was cooking the food for us to buy.

“My monthly salary was N32,000. We were working day
and night. I wanted to leave but there was no way; my
wife and children were traumatized.”

Karibu Kabara, a member of the human rights network,
said his organisation was taking up the case to ensure
that the men got justice.

“What I saw was heartbreaking. Where the company
kept these people to live isn’t fit for animals,” he said.
“Their meals weren’t enough and there were no drugs
for those that took ill.”

Photo: BBC

https://www.thecable.ng/police-rescue-126-workers-locked-for-3-months-in-kano-rice-factory