The Principal and Vice Principal of Al-Azhar School in Zaria, Kaduna State have been arrested by the police in connection with their alleged involvement in the death of a student of the school during corporal punishment.
It was alleged that the JSS 3 victim, Marwanu Nuhu Sambo, was brutally beaten by the Principal, the Vice Principal and some prefects of of the school for being absent from school.
The school’s management had in the statement denounced the punishment meted out to the deceased pupil, saying it was not part of the school’s policy.
It added that the officers involved meted out the “the irresponsible punishment without consultation.”
The statement further that tge school’s management was “deeply saddened by the incident that led to the death of the student and prays almighty Allah to forgive the shortcoming of the deceased, grant him jannat el firdous as his final abode and give his family the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss.
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“Furthermore, the officers that committed this act were suspended from the school forthwith and handed over to the Nigerian Police Force for investigation and further action.”
Mansir Hassan, the Public Relations Officer for the the Kaduna State Police Command, confirmed the statement by the school’s management that those involved in the incident had been arrested.
According to him: “The police is fully aware of the incident and we are in control of the situation.
“Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the development. The CP has directed a full scale investigation on the matter and we will get to its root.”
The deceased student was reportedly paraded in front of the school’s assembly for missing classes and also subjected to harsh corporal punishments, including more than 100 strokes of the cane.
“At the assembly, the principal ordered that Marwanu should be given 105 strokes of the cane. Thereafter, they took him to the office, removed his clothes and trousers and continued beating him with sticks on the head and back and his body,” Hassan added.
“The Principal later handed him over to the school prefects, who continued beating him with sticks until one of his teeth fell off. It was at that point that the deceased went into a coma.
“But instead of rushing him to the hospital, the prefects brought him out and dumped his body on the school premises near the male toilets until closing time.
“Cries from other students in the school, who watched in trepidation reportedly attracted other teachers, who rushed to the scene where they found that the boy had given up the ghost.”
However, one source disclosed the student was rushed to a private hospital in Zaria, but was confirmed dead by the hospital.
The school management has also ordered the school shut until further notice.
