Police operatives in Kano on Monday rescued hundreds of labourers allegedly forced to remain within the premises of a rice mill where they had been working for close to three months.
Kano Police Commissioner, Habu Sani Ahmadu, told the Daily Trust Tuesday night that contrary to reports that between 300 and 600 labourers were rescued from ‘Popular Farm,’ producers of one of the popular rice in the market, the actual number was 126.
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But one of the rescued workers, who identified himself as Sani Kiru, said over 300 of them were freed from the factory.
“We were treated like slaves for three months,” he told our reporter last night after reuniting with his family.
“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,” he said.
Our correspondent reports that owners of the company reportedly said they locked the factory to avoid COVID-19 transmission.
The factory is located at Challawa Industrial Area of the state capital.
It was gathered that most of the labourers had been working in the factory for long; and when the issue of COVID-19 arose, the owners, said to be Indian nationals, decided to close the doors of the company and denied the labourers the opportunity to go out or visit their families.
Sources said while the company decided to increase the wages of the workers in order to entice them, it nonetheless threatened to sack any of the labourers who insisted on leaving the premises.
“The factory was closed by the owners shortly after the Kano State government closed its borders on March 27, 2020 and banned interstate travelling,” a source said.
According to the source: “The Indians deceptively told the workers that they would only be kept at the premises for few days…
“However, instead of allowing the workers to go and see their families, they ended up threatening them, telling them that whoever insisted on leaving would not be considered in the future.”
How police stormed the factory
Police Commissioner told the Daily Trust that his officers and men besieged the factory on Monday after obtaining a court injunction.
“We went to the factory after we received a complaint from the Global Human Rights Network.
“We rescued 126 people from the premises,” he said.
Asked of what the police plan to do, the commissioner said: “Investigation is ongoing because there are nominal complainants.
“We will update you on the development but the good news is that the people held at the factory have been freed.”
Although the commissioner did not give details on arrests made at the factory, other sources said four managers have been taken into custody.
Kano Police spokesman, Abdullahi Haruna, told the BBC that the plant had now been shut down and the owners were being investigated for “holding the men against their will”.
Some of the men said they were forced to work most of the time during their incarceration, with little food.
“We were allowed to rest for only a short time, no prayers were allowed, no family visits,” 28-year-old Hamza Ibrahim, one of those rescued, said.
“What I saw was heartbreaking.
“Where the company kept these people to live isn’t fit for animals,” Karibu Yahaya Kabara of the Global Human Rights Network said.
“Their meals weren’t enough and there were no drugs for those that took ill,” he said.
Mr Kabara said his organisation was taking up the case to ensure that the men got justice.
One of the freed workers told journalists that he had been in the factory since March 23rd without setting his foot outside.
Another worker, Haruna Salihu, said he had been in the factory since March 28 and was denied the time to visit his family and parents.
“Our family members are seriously disturbed, as they don’t know (the condition we are in).
“My wife and my kids used to come to the factory’s gate and I couldn’t go and meet them,” he said.
Pictures from the factory showed that the labourers were cramped in make-shift structures.
It was gathered that no beds in the factory as most of the workers lie on mats spread in the “shelters erected with zinc.”
‘Popular Farm’ not our member
One of the officials of the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RPAN), who does not want his name mentioned, said the rice mill in contention had been suspended from the organisation.
“They are not our members because we suspended them long ago over some issues,” he said.
“We found them wanting…
“Our focus was to enhance local production using homegrown paddy in line with the policy of the federal government but we kept having issues with them.
“So, we resolved to suspend them and considering that we have no relationship with them, it became difficult for us to monitor their activities or sanction them,” he said.
Another official of RPAN said: “When the Kano State government closed its borders, it gave us exemption, gave us identification cards and also provided us with clearance for vehicles bringing our raw materials from other states to have access to the state capital.
“The government gave us the concession because we provide essential services and therefore, those working for us have never been molested.
“We were only directed to ensure that only half of our workers are at the factory at the time.
“The government insists that we must observe the COVID-19 protocol.
“So, if some rice producers were found to have incarcerated some workers for months, it begs for an answer,” he said.
