Hundreds of boys, men freed from torture building in Nigeria

Police in northern Nigeria say hundreds of boys and men have been rescued from a building where they had been beaten, starved, sexually assaulted and chained.

Police spokesman Yakubu Sabo in Kaduna State said Friday that visible marks on their bodies showed that some had been tortured.

Police rescued them on Thursday following a tip.

Sabo said the building’s owner told police the children had been brought by their families to learn the Quran or because they had problems such as drug addiction. But police say the place was not licensed to run any reformatory or educational program.

The police spokesman says the owner and six others who are said to be teachers have been arrested.

Police are trying to contact the victims’ families.