Within the past few months. the Nigerian police have rescued and freed more than 1500 people from various abusive institutions or the so-called ‘reformatory schools’. It all began when one man from a school was refused to meet his family. After the police intervened, a nationwide investigation started into such Islamic schools and rehabilitation schools.
Nigeria has many Islamic reformatory schools, also called Almajiri, which is the only source of education for a lot of youngsters. However, hundreds of freed people have reported that they were kept in chains and tortured frequently. They were abused physically and sexually on a regular basis.
Reuters was able to interview two of the former students who reported their horrible experiences with these schools. As they entered the school, they could see boy lined up naked, in chains, who were bleeding. A classroom that can accommodate just 8-10 would be filled with 50 boys.
Reformatory schools run by the local religious leaders
It is very well known that these are religious leaders that run these schools. Some parents even support their inhuman methodology. Instead of holding these leaders accountable for these actions, the common public holds the Nigerian government as the guilty party.
The government has failed to provide proper educational institutions in northern Nigeria. The population, especially in the Muslim community, is steadily rising and the resources are scarce and unevenly distributed in the country. The Muslim reformatory schools educate more than 10 million children in just North Nigeria. The government schools in the area have been able to serve less than 5 million.
The students interviewed with Reuters were sent to these reformatory schools by their parents after they were involved in stealing and other bad habits. However, after just two weeks of their admission, the police raided the school and freed all the students. Now they don’t wish to go back there ever.
The main problem with Almajiri, which should be addressed urgently, is that if these schools are shut with immediate effect, there would be an education crisis throughout the country.
Featured image from Pixabay.
