The crackdown has increased pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to tighten oversight on traditional private schools known as Almajiris, which teach millions of children in the country’s predominantly Muslim north. Authorities released 147 students Saturday from one facility in Kaduna state. An estimated 10 million children attend Islamic schools in Nigeria, which for centuries were a path to becoming a religious scholar. ADThree days before the Kaduna raid, authorities rescued 500 people from an Islamic school in Katsina state, which billed itself as a rehabilitation program for young people with behavioral issues. Ibrahim Garba Buzu, who runs an Islamic school in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, has read about the raids with dismay.

Source: Washington Post October 21, 2019 13:43 UTC