The Police in Kaduna have arrested the principal and vice principal of Al-Azhar School in Zaria, Kaduna state, over allegations of beating a JSS 3 student, Marwanu Sambo, to death, The Nation has reported.
The suspects are accused of engaging in corporal punishment, which led to Sambo’s death on Friday, October 20.
According to the report, Sambo suffered alleged severe physical abuse at the hands of the school’s Principal, Vice Principal, and the prefects at Al-Azhar Academy.
The alleged reason for this brutal punishment was Sambo’s absence from classes.
The Kaduna State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, has confirmed the detention of the suspects and the launch of a comprehensive investigation into the matter.
“Two suspects have been arrested in connection to the development. The CP has directed a full-scale investigation on the matter and we will get to its root cause”.
The deceased student is said to have endured merciless punishments, including enduring over a hundred strokes of the cane.
According to a source, “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 in 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 out that the boy has given up the ghost.”
Another source revealed that the student was later rushed to a private hospital in Zaria, where he was regrettably confirmed to have passed away.