Officers of the Zone XI Command of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested an Islamic cleric identified as Mojeed Oyelami for operating an unregistered quranic school where he was training pupils under an inhumane environment, in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.

Parading the suspect on Monday, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone XI, Leye Oyebade, said upon the discovery of the school at the Kehinsi Compound, Ita Baale, Bayeruka area, in Ibadan, by men of the Operation Puff Adder, it was discovered that 45 male and female pupils were kept in an inhumane environment.

Oyebade said the frail and malnourished pupils recounted their harrowing experience while being interrogated.

“We found out that in the school, they (pupils) were frequently given corporal punishment. Intelligence also revealed that some of the female pupils, between the ages of eight and 19, were often subjected to all forms of sexual molestation,” Oyebade said.

He explained that the operator of the school, 43-year-old Oyelami, who claimed to be an Islamic cleric, was arrested alongside three of his accomplices, Mohammad Gazali, Mutiu Abdulkareem and Ajayi Segun.

Oyebade added that the victims were undergoing post-traumatic examinations.

Highlighting the success of men of the Operation Puff Adder in the Osun, Oyo and Ondo state commands under the zone, Oyebade said operatives also recovered over 3,000 cartridges from an armed robbery suspect and stolen motorcycles and vehicles from robbery suspects, cultists and ritualists in Oyo State.