Hajiya Mariam Kolo, Director-General of the agency, made this known during a visit to the COVID-19 Isolation Centre where the children are receiving medical attention in Minna on Monday.

The police, following reliable information received on July 18, rescued the children from a house disguised as an Islamic study centre.

The children were said to have been physically abused, chained by their teacher and had scars all over their bodies.

They were later handed to the state child rights agency to be taken care of.

“The children are doing fine now, we have been taking good care of them in terms of feeding and medical care and until we are sure they are out of danger medically before we will reunite them with their families,” she said.

Kolo said that parents of the children would soon be prosecuted once the ongoing strike by the state labour union was over to serve as a deterrent to others.

The DG appealed to parents especially fathers to look inward within their communities for Islamic schools to enrol their wards and desist from sending them to strangers.

“There are enough Islamic schools within their locality, children are supposed to be blessings to society rather than a burden, these children from every indication do not have moral training”.

“Henceforth, any parents caught sending their children away from home to other places will be dealt with decisively,” she added. (NAN)