One of us drank a bottle of Trophy beer…Arabic student, Kwara state
Arabic-A student of Musbaudeen, a Madrasa (Arabic/Quranic) school in Ilorin, Kwara State, has revealed why he and some of his classmates were brutally flogged by the school authorities.
The student, Nasirudeen Muhideen, while being interviewed by an unnamed teacher before the school assembly, said that he and other culprits attended a birthday party last Sunday, but only one of them drank a bottle of Trophy beer, while the others drank Malta Guinness and energy drinks, which are non-alcoholic.
The assembly was called by the panicky school authorities over the viral video showing the students being flogged brutally, an act which has elicited nationwide outrage.
Narrating what happened, Muhideen said, “We went to the birthday party of one of our classmates last Sunday and we were many.
“One of us drank alcohol, but not all of us drank. When the Imam and some parents saw it, they were angry. It was out of that anger that we were beaten on Wednesday, while others were flogged on Saturday.
When asked to react to a separate video showing the influence of alcohol on the students, he said, “he knows nothing about it. At the party we attended on Sunday, nobody bathed in drinks. Only one among us ordered a bottle of Trophy.”
A student, who did not mention his name, said the flogging was too much for the students, there are other ways to discipline them, the flogging is much if anything bad had happened, what would be the reaction of the school authority.
Meanwhile, the Kwara State Government has suspended the leader of the Arabic school in the Ganmo area of the state.
The Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development in the state, Sa’adatu Modibbo Kawu, made this known in a statement on Sunday.
The viral video showing some students of the Madrasa brutally flogged by their instructors had elicited nationwide outrage over the weekend with many Nigerians condemning the action while calling on the Kwara State Government to investigate it.
In a statement, the Kwara commissioner said a government delegation visited the Arabic school and took the decision to suspend the headteacher of the Madrasa.
Kawu was joined by the Divisional Police Officer Ganmo, SP Oko Nkama; and a representative of the NSCDC DSC Parati Abdul Hameed.
The statement was titled, ‘Video: Kwara Government suspends Madrasah’s head, probes developments affected students get medical treatment.’
It partly read, “The government’s team carefully listened to the authorities of the Arabic school, the father of the sole girl in the video, and four other students involved in the unsavory development.
“Regardless of the explanations of the authorities on the development, the self-confessed consent of the parents, and regret of the affected students, the government seriously frowns at the harsh treatment seen in the footage.
“Consequently, the government has directed the setting up of an investigative committee, comprising Muslim scholars, leaders and government officials, to look into the issue while the head of the Arabic school, who admitted to directing the punishment, has been asked to step aside pending the conclusion of the investigation.
“The government has also taken the affected students to a public hospital for proper medical examination and treatment. This is to ensure that none of them suffers any physical or psychological damage.”
The government appealed to the people of the area to be calm “while the committee does it works and submits a report for further action”.