Police in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna has rescued more than 300 male students from an Islamic boarding school where many had been tortured and sexually abused, a police spokesman said Friday.

Police raided a building in the Rigasa area city on Thursday where the victims including adults and minors were kept in "the most debasing and inhumane conditions in the name of teaching them the Koran and reforming them", Kaduna state police spokesman Yakubu Sabo said.

"We found around 100 students including children as young as nine, in chains stuffed in a small room all in the name of reforming them and making them responsible persons," Sabo said.

The school which has been operating for a decade, enrolled students brought by their families to learn the Koran and be rehabilitated from drug abuse and other illnesses, police said.

The proprietor of the school and six staff were arrested during the raid.

Many of the rescued students bore scars on their backs and serious injuries, police said.

"The victims were abused. Some of them said they were sodomized by their teachers," Sabo stated.

Police had been tipped off by complaints from local residents who became suspicious of what was happening inside the school.

During the raid on the school, police said they found a "torture chamber" where students were chained, hung and beaten.

Sabo said the victims were of different nationalities and that "two of them said during interrogation they were brought by their parents from Burkina Faso".

The identities of the rescued victims were being documented to determine where they came from and to contact their families.

Parents of some of the victims from within the city, contacted by police were "shocked and horrified" when they saw the condition of their children, as they had no idea what was happening inside the school.

Parents were allowed to visit their children every three months, but only in select areas of the premises. &nbsp;

"They were not allowed into the house to see what was happening the children are only brought to them outside to meet them," Sabo said.

"All they thought was their children are being taught the Koran and good manners as they looked subdued," he added.

Private Islamic schools are common in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria, where government services are often lacking.

Police in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna has rescued more than 300 male students from an Islamic boarding school where many had been tortured and sexually abused, a police spokesman said Friday.

Police in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna has rescued more than 300 male students from an Islamic boarding school where many had been tortured and sexually abused, a police spokesman said Friday. Police raided a building in the Rigasa area city on Thursday where the victims including adults and minors were kept in "the most debasing and inhumane conditions in the name of teaching them the Koran and reforming them", Kaduna state police spokesman Yakubu Sabo said. "We found around 100 students including children as young as nine, in chains stuffed in a small room all in the name of reforming them and making them responsible persons," Sabo said. The school which has been operating for a decade, enrolled students brought by their families to learn the Koran and be rehabilitated from drug abuse and other illnesses, police said. The proprietor of the school and six staff were arrested during the raid. Many of the rescued students bore scars on their backs and serious injuries, police said. "The victims were abused. Some of them said they were sodomized by their teachers," Sabo stated. Police had been tipped off by complaints from local residents who became suspicious of what was happening inside the school. During the raid on the school, police said they found a "torture chamber" where students were chained, hung and beaten. Sabo said the victims were of different nationalities and that "two of them said during interrogation they were brought by their parents from Burkina Faso". The identities of the rescued victims were being documented to determine where they came from and to contact their families. Parents of some of the victims from within the city, contacted by police were "shocked and horrified" when they saw the condition of their children, as they had no idea what was happening inside the school. Parents were allowed to visit their children every three months, but only in select areas of the premises. "They were not allowed into the house to see what was happening the children are only brought to them outside to meet them," Sabo said. "All they thought was their children are being taught the Koran and good manners as they looked subdued," he added. Private Islamic schools are common in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria, where government services are often lacking.

Nigeria police say over 300 'abused' students freed from Islamic school

Former Bangladeshi students are turning to social media to detail allegations of "rampant" sex abuse at the hands of teachers and older pupils in Islamic schools, breaking their silence on a taboo topic in the conservative country.

Child abuse in madrasas has long gone unreported in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation where hardline Islamist groups draw their support from the tens of thousands of schools across the nation of 169 million people.

But in the wake of a brutal murder of a teenage girl who was burnt to death in April after accusing her headteacher of sexual assault, such incidents have been subject to national scrutiny and debate for the first time.

In July alone, at least five madrasa teachers have been arrested on rape charges against boys and girls under their care.

Several senior students were also held by police over the rape and beheading of an 11-year-old orphan, while a Dhaka cleric and seminary teacher was charged with sexually assaulting a dozen boys aged between 12 and 19.

The accusations reveal how students from poorer and rural backgrounds, whose parents send them to madrasas as they are more affordable than secular schools, are disproportionately affected by the abuse.

Rights activists said the assaults -- which range from violent rapes to forcible kissing -- are so pervasive that the cases reported in the media are just the tip of the iceberg.

"For years these crimes eluded spotlight due to sensitivity of the subject," Abdus Shahid, the head of child rights' group Bangladesh Shishu Odhikar Forum, told AFP.

"Devout Muslims send children to madrasas, but they don't speak up about these crimes as they feel it would harm these key religious institutions."

'Widespread and rampant'

Hojaifa al Mamduh, who studied in three madrasas in the capital Dhaka, published a series of posts on Facebook in July detailing the abuses endured by students including himself.

The assaults were "so widespread in the madrasas, every student who has studied there knows about it", Al Mamduh, now a journalism student at a Dhaka University, told AFP.

"Many madrasa teachers I know consider sex with children a lesser crime than consensual extramarital sex with women. Since they live in the same dormitories, the perpetrators can easily hide their crimes and put pressure on their poor students to keep mum."

The 23-year-old's posts generated heated debate in the country, and he was personally threatened.

He was accused of being "an agent of Jews and Christians" and smearing the "sacred image" of a madrasa by one social media user.

Another reminded him of the fate of Avijit Roy, a top Bangladeshi atheist blogger and writer who was hacked to death by Islamist extremists in 2015.

But his posts encouraged others to share their own experiences of alleged sex crimes.

Mostakimbillah Masum, who published his story on a feminist website, said he was "first raped by an elder student in my madrasa when I was just seven".

The 25-year-old told AFP that another one of his rapists was "a teacher who made me unconscious and raped me. It traumatised me permanently".

"Dozens of madrasa students I know were either raped or witnessed rapes and sexual assaults of their fellow students," he added. "It is so rampant almost every madrasa has a fair share of such stories."

Culture of impunity

Madrasa teachers have strongly denied the allegations, calling them "negative propaganda".

Mahfuzul Haq, a principal of a madrasa in Mohammadpur where Al Mamduh studied, told AFP "one or two isolated incidents can happen" as there were 20,000 madrasas in the South Asian nation.

"Those who don't like to study in madrasas are spreading these stories," he added.

A spokesman for hardline Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islami, which represents a coalition of thousands of madrasas, said his organisation told a recent conference of 1,200 principals to take "tough stand against any sex crimes".

However, there has been growing acknowledgment of the alleged offences.

Pro-Islamic website Fateh24.com, viewed as a voice for the madrasas, pointed out in a report that children were at risk in smaller seminaries run by just one or two teachers and that had no oversight from governing bodies.

Editor Iftekhar Jamil, a former madrasa student and teacher, added that the cases were "not isolated" incidents and called for closed-circuit cameras to be installed in students' sleeping quarters.

"Instead of looking for conspiracies, these madrasas must take up responsibility and adopt an action plan to tackle these crimes," he told AFP.

Former Bangladeshi students are turning to social media to detail allegations of "rampant" sex abuse at the hands of teachers and older pupils in Islamic schools, breaking their silence on a taboo topic in the conservative country.

Former Bangladeshi students are turning to social media to detail allegations of "rampant" sex abuse at the hands of teachers and older pupils in Islamic schools, breaking their silence on a taboo topic in the conservative country. Child abuse in madrasas has long gone unreported in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation where hardline Islamist groups draw their support from the tens of thousands of schools across the nation of 169 million people. But in the wake of a brutal murder of a teenage girl who was burnt to death in April after accusing her headteacher of sexual assault, such incidents have been subject to national scrutiny and debate for the first time. In July alone, at least five madrasa teachers have been arrested on rape charges against boys and girls under their care. Several senior students were also held by police over the rape and beheading of an 11-year-old orphan, while a Dhaka cleric and seminary teacher was charged with sexually assaulting a dozen boys aged between 12 and 19. The accusations reveal how students from poorer and rural backgrounds, whose parents send them to madrasas as they are more affordable than secular schools, are disproportionately affected by the abuse. Rights activists said the assaults -- which range from violent rapes to forcible kissing -- are so pervasive that the cases reported in the media are just the tip of the iceberg. "For years these crimes eluded spotlight due to sensitivity of the subject," Abdus Shahid, the head of child rights' group Bangladesh Shishu Odhikar Forum, told AFP. "Devout Muslims send children to madrasas, but they don't speak up about these crimes as they feel it would harm these key religious institutions." 'Widespread and rampant' Hojaifa al Mamduh, who studied in three madrasas in the capital Dhaka, published a series of posts on Facebook in July detailing the abuses endured by students including himself. The assaults were "so widespread in the madrasas, every student who has studied there knows about it", Al Mamduh, now a journalism student at a Dhaka University, told AFP. "Many madrasa teachers I know consider sex with children a lesser crime than consensual extramarital sex with women. Since they live in the same dormitories, the perpetrators can easily hide their crimes and put pressure on their poor students to keep mum." The 23-year-old's posts generated heated debate in the country, and he was personally threatened. He was accused of being "an agent of Jews and Christians" and smearing the "sacred image" of a madrasa by one social media user. Another reminded him of the fate of Avijit Roy, a top Bangladeshi atheist blogger and writer who was hacked to death by Islamist extremists in 2015. But his posts encouraged others to share their own experiences of alleged sex crimes. Mostakimbillah Masum, who published his story on a feminist website, said he was "first raped by an elder student in my madrasa when I was just seven". The 25-year-old told AFP that another one of his rapists was "a teacher who made me unconscious and raped me. It traumatised me permanently". "Dozens of madrasa students I know were either raped or witnessed rapes and sexual assaults of their fellow students," he added. "It is so rampant almost every madrasa has a fair share of such stories." Culture of impunity Madrasa teachers have strongly denied the allegations, calling them "negative propaganda". Mahfuzul Haq, a principal of a madrasa in Mohammadpur where Al Mamduh studied, told AFP "one or two isolated incidents can happen" as there were 20,000 madrasas in the South Asian nation. "Those who don't like to study in madrasas are spreading these stories," he added. A spokesman for hardline Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islami, which represents a coalition of thousands of madrasas, said his organisation told a recent conference of 1,200 principals to take "tough stand against any sex crimes". However, there has been growing acknowledgment of the alleged offences. Pro-Islamic website Fateh24.com, viewed as a voice for the madrasas, pointed out in a report that children were at risk in smaller seminaries run by just one or two teachers and that had no oversight from governing bodies. Editor Iftekhar Jamil, a former madrasa student and teacher, added that the cases were "not isolated" incidents and called for closed-circuit cameras to be installed in students' sleeping quarters. "Instead of looking for conspiracies, these madrasas must take up responsibility and adopt an action plan to tackle these crimes," he told AFP.

Bangladeshis speak up about 'rampant' rapes in Islamic schools

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Nigeria police say over 300 'abused' students freed from Islamic school

Bangladeshis speak up about 'rampant' rapes in Islamic schools