President Muhammadu Buhari has reacted to the abuse of over 300 chained persons uncovered in Rigasa, Igabi local government area of Kaduna state.
On Saturday, Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja.
The senior media aide noted that the president condemned all forms of rights abuses whether of adults or children.
According to Garba, Buhari also commended the efforts of the police for the discovery and subsequent arrest of operators of the horrific hub.
Okay.ng had reported 2 days ago that the police uncovered a house with 300 chained persons harassed and tortured on a regular basis.
The statement reads in part: “In commending the police for their discovery of this horrific hub and arrest of suspected operators of the unedifying, so-called “reform institution,” the administration of President Buhari categorically condemns rights abuses whether of adults or of children.
“We are glad that Muslim authorities have dismissed the notion of the embarrassing and horrifying spectacle as Islamic School.
“The place has indeed been described as a house of torture and a place of human slavery.
“The President holds the view that children will be safeguarded from roaming the streets and protected from all evil influences that assail idle hands and idle minds, when they are sent to school.
“When he inaugurated the National Economic Council for the year 2019/2023 at the Presidential Villa, in Abuja, President Buhari warned that keeping children away from school is a criminal offence.
“He also stressed the need to take seriously and enforce the statutory provisions on free and compulsory basic education.
“Citing Section 18(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which he says places on all of us – public leaders and political office holders – an obligation to eradicate illiteracy and provide free and compulsory education.
“He added that “Section 2 of the Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act provides that every government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.
“It is indeed a crime, he stressed, for any parent to keep his child out of school for this period.”
