Nigerian police have freed 259 people from an Islamic rehabilitation centre in the southwestern city of Ibadan, making the number of rescued children from abusive institutions about one thousand 500.
Images from a local TV station taken after the captives were released showed a group of mostly young men and teenage boys.
An infant was among the group. A freed captive Olalekan Ayoola in an interview said they were given one meal a day, describing the food as unfit for a dog.
Nigeria launched a crackdown on informal Islamic schools and rehabilitation centres late September after a man was refused permission to see his nephews at one institution and complained to police.
