On the 4th of November, a mammoth crowd of inquisitive people gathered around the Oloore mosque in the Ojoo area of Ibadan to witness the rescue of victims of forced detention.
The police had allegedly received a tip from a 17-year-old boy that an illegal detention camp was hidden there. On getting to the area, hundreds of victims were found in different states of malnutrition and inhumane conditions.
According to the commissioner of police, Shina Olukolu, the 17-year-old boy was a hostage in another illegal detention camp in the Owode area Apata. He, however, escaped and reported the inhumanity faced to the police.
The whistleblower said inmates of such facilities are usually starved and forced to work. In most cases when inmates die, the deaths are not reported to the appropriate quarters and next of kins.
Acting on this tip-off, the police raided the Owode area of Apata to rescue the inmates. However, the area had been cleared of the victims by the time they arrived. The commissioner of police remarked that traces of recent inhabitations could be seen. The boy then referred the police to another site in Ibadan which is the Oloore mosque in Ojoo.
On getting there, hundreds of victims were rescued by the police. They could be seen in various stages of malnutrition and relegation. Also, five suspects including the owner were arrested and taken in for questioning.
Mrs Faosat Sanni, the state commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion was around as a representative of the state government. She said, “The development is so saddening when we heard that some people, especially children are in detention and it was immediately that we responded. We must get first of all their numbers and we are taking them to the hospitals for better medical attention and free them from their present detention.”
This raid is coming barely two weeks after a similar raid was carried out in Katsina. Common among the owners of such facilities is the belief that they have supernatural powers to heal the victims who they believe to be suffering from various abnormalities ranging from mental illness to disobedience drug abuse.