….Management of Elkenemy College of Islamic Theology cover up the story
By Hamza SULAIMAN
JUBRIL Sadi Mato (Ramadan), an 11-year-old Pre-Junior Student of Elkenemy College of Islamic Theology Maiduguri, woke up in the wee hours of Jan. 16, 2022, had his ablution and observed his prayers with the hope of a brighter day ahead. He went about the activities of the day, full of life. But by nightfall, when most students had begun to retire to bed, Ramadan had his life almost snuffed out of him by a senior colleague.
It was gathered that the senior student from the SS2 class had sent Ramadan on an errand, but he didn’t go. That fateful night, he came to pick him up, took him to a quiet place and used a razor blade to severely cut his neck, injuring most of his arteries, nerves and trachea.
The offender, whose name has been concealed by the school management, left the victim for dead with his body soaked in blood. After some minutes, Jubril struggled and took himself to the principal’s office before collapsing and becoming unconscious.
Jubril was rushed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) as he laid critical at the Intensive Care Unit(ICU); the perpetrator, reportedly high on psychotropic substances, was subsequently arrested and handed over to police station for further investigations.
The victim was the son of Late Justice Sadi Mato of Federal High Court Kano State. His Mother, Hajiya Aisha, later married a Director with Yobe State Government ( name withheld).
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However, to the chagrin of the victim’s family members, Aisha’s new husband (Jubril’s stepfather), who was called by the school management shortly after the incident, has been discouraging the victim and his mother from reporting the attack.
A family member who chose to be anonymous said that the husband has collaborated with the Principal of the school as well as the Director of the College, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Muhammad Sani Idris to conceal the report from going out, even as such cases had been reoccurring in the college.
He said the school director was said to be a very influential man, so he promised to do everything possible to ensure that the case was dead.
“Honestly, the case of Jubril has effectively been decriminalised as a result of a collapse in prosecutions that has allowed many offenders to escape justice and to go on to offend in the knowledge that they are unlikely to be held to account.
“The fact that their acts of violence are normalised, accepted or excused gives a feeling of power and impunity to these individuals and encourages such recurrent shameful predatory behaviour. This support system must be eradicated at all costs and in no uncertain terms.
“This is not the first case of armed violence in the college, there are several other cases relating to sexual abuse and armed violence, but the school management had swept it under the carpet. This is likely to mean we are creating more victims due to our failure to act.
“This can result in far-reaching and catastrophic consequences on the physical and mental state of any child. Because It is, amongst others, responsible for a decrease of academic performance and a high proportion of school dropouts, denying its victims the very right to education,” he said.
He, therefore, appealed to Borno Governor Babagana Zulum, Police, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), National Human Rights Commission(NHRC), Legal Aid Council and other reputable organisations and individuals to seek redress for Ramadan as his conditions remained critical at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
In the same vein, a journalist from a local media in the Maiduguri approached the director of the College, Muhammed Sani Idris, on Monday, Jan. 17, to enquire about the incident, but his efforts were proved abortive.
He said, “I was asked to drop my smartphone upon entering the director’s office, to which I complied. After introducing myself, I asked him about the school’s position relating to the incident.
“He solicited for my cooperation to silenced the issue, pointing out that such story will bring no good rather than public panic and had name, especially to the concerned authorities.
“You see, what good is this story giving you? The school and your medium have the same objectives (rendering services to the public), so I will love it if you forget about this story. At the same time, we move forward, but if you think it is mandatory to report this issue, go ahead and do it, the Journalist quoted the director.”
Some students who also spoke about the issue said that they were told by the management that Jubril attempted to commit suicide because he hated being a boarding student.
One student who craved anonymity said, “they told us that he tried to kill himself with a razor blade by stabbing himself. But we later learnt that one of our seniors stabbed him.
“We don’t know his present condition. I hope he is not dead,” the student said.
Another Senior Staff of College said, “On the same day, a delegation from the Borno state Ministry of Education visited the college when the director departed to Damaturu, leaving his principals behind. They were told that: “the principals were not on seat.”
The sources added that the suspect committed the act under the influence of a drug secretly sold to students by a senior managing officer of the Junior Secondary School Section.
According to him, the college management covered numerous cases of misconduct perpetrated by the students and some of the staff without the parents’ knowledge. However, the Parents and Teachers Association has been scrapped for years, following a mass protest over the increment and change of school uniforms by the college management.
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