Kaduna state government on Sunday began reuniting the over 300 rescued inmates of the Rigasa ‘Islamic Centre’ with their families, just as the Centre insisted that its intention is pure and establishment legal.
The state government had taken custody of the over 300 rescued inmates of the Centre from the Kaduna state Police Command. But on Sunday the state Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, said 140 of the over 300 victims have already been re-united with their families.
She said, the victims including 77 children and 113 adults were taken to a secured facility for proper profiling before being united with their families. “Initially, after they were rescued, they were brought to Ranchers Bees Stadium where they stayed overnight and were given food by the state government.
“On Friday, they were relocated to the Hajj Camp. And that was when we did the head count to separate the children from the adults. We were able to get 190 on ground, 77 of them are children, the youngest being the age of 6. There are some that are 7, 8, 9 and 10. We also have adults as old as 30 and even up to 50. We have 113 adults as at Friday.
“On that same Friday, there were about 15 children that were really sick. We had to take them to the hospital. About three of the adults were on admission where they are being taken care of,” she said.
Hajiya Hafsat however commended officials of the Nigeria Police, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and media practitioners for the various roles they played in the exercise.
Meanwhile, the Legal Adviser, of the purported Rehabilitation Centre, Barrister Sani Katu, said, the Kaduna state government and the police have not done well by raiding the centre. The lawyer said that the development was a big loss to Kaduna state government, Nigeria and neighbouring African nations.
According to him, the Centre, which started in year 2000 and duly registered with the state, has been a molder of society and should be commended instead. He said they will cooperate with security personnel on investigation, but the legal team will also give the Centre every cover to prove that its intentions are pure.
