Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) Police in Nigeria have rescued 67 men and boys who were subjected to "inhumane and degrading treatments" at an Islamic school in the northern state of Katsina, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

The religious school, which also served as a rehabilitation center, was run by a 78-year-old Muslim cleric in Daura, the birthplace of Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari.

Authorities visited the school on Monday, a day after students protested about their welfare, tipping off the police about the conditions in the facility, Katsina police state spokesman Isah Gambo told CNN.

The pupils, whose ages range from 7 to 40, said they were denied food for days and beaten with chains by the teachers in the school, Gambo said.

Others also said they had been molested and sexually abused during their stay at the school, he said.

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