The police command in Kano says it
rescued 126 workers held hostage for three months at Popular Farms and Mills
Limited located in Challawa Industrial Estate area of the state.
Abdullahi Haruna, police public
relations officer who confirmed the incident, said on June 21 a complaint was
received from Global Community for Human Rights Network, Kano, that some
labourers were wrongly confined inside the said mill.
“On receiving the information a
team of policemen was deployed and when a search was conducted, 126 labourers
trapped inside the factory for three months were rescued,” he said.
According to him, four officials
of the factory have been arrested and investigation has commenced to “unravel
facts of the matter”.
The workers reportedly said they
were denied exit from the mill since the beginning of the nationwide lockdown
imposed in March for fear of importing COVID-19 into the factory.
They said they were promised an
increase in their monthly salary, and that those who did not accept were
threatened with dismissal.
The workers alleged that they were
forced to work in poor condition during their lock up.
“We were treated like slaves for
three months,” one of the freed workers was quoted to have said.
“We were all set free on Monday.
It was a nasty experience…I don’t know how to describe the food we were fed
with. The head of the administration recruited one woman who was cooking the
food for us to buy.
“My monthly salary was N32,000. We
were working day and night. I wanted to leave but there was no way; my wife and
children were traumatized.”
Karibu Kabara, a member of the
human rights network, said his organisation was taking up the case to ensure
that the men got justice.
“What I saw was heartbreaking.
Where the company kept these people to live isn’t fit for animals,” he said.
“Their meals weren’t enough and
there were no drugs for those that took ill.”
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