A middle-aged man, Salisu Umar, has locked up his physically challenged son, Sadiku, aged 16, for the past two years in a cage at his house in Daura Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Umar locked up Sadiku in 2018 and was being fed like a dog during the entire period of his incarceration.
It was learnt that the man was embarrassed about his son’s condition and decided to keep him away from public glare. According to a source, Umar has a large family and was living in a house that could not accommodate Sadiku with his condition.
Sadiku was, however, rescued from the inhumane situation when a non-governmental organisation, Save the Children International (SCI), facilitated his release last week.
According to the source, on discovering the condition of the boy, SCI representatives reported the matter to the police and Sadiku was rescued.
His father was arrested and briefly detained before he was released, but not without a warning to refrain from the inhumane treatment of his son.
Corroborating the development, an SCI agent in Daura, Aminu Gambo, said Umar told the police that he locked his son in the cage “because there was no space for him in the two-room apartment housing the entire family of 15.
“He was detained at the police station in Daura for a day and moved to the police headquarters in Katsina, before he was released on the condition that he will no longer subject the boy to any inhumane treatment.
“SCI is working to see how it can accommodate Sadiku under its Reaching and Empowering Adolescents to make informed Choices for their Health (REACH) initiative being implemented in Zamfara, Katsina and Gombe states.”
It would not be the first time such inhumane treatment would be meted out on hapless victims. In October last year, police discovered a rehabilitation/religious training centre in Daura, where about 500 young men were chained with some of them sexually abused.
A similar centre was discovered in the metropolitan area a few days later, where hundreds of youths were chained, and subjected to all forms of inhumane treatment.
Also, in February this year, a 30-year-old man, Samaila Musa, was arrested for chaining and enslaving his two wives in Rimi Local Government area.
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