The Al-Azhar Academy in Zaria has been sealed by the Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority, KSSQAA, over an alleged beating of a student to death.
Marwan Sambo, a JSS 3 student, was said to have died as a result of brutal beatings and corporal punishments by several teachers due to absenteeism.
Dr. Usman Abubakar, Director-General of KSSQAA, said in a statement yesterday in Kaduna that the state’s Ministry of Education, representing the Kaduna state government, and the school had started a fact-finding expedition.
He stated that their mission to Zaria was to piece together the sequence of events that occurred from the Al-Azhar Academy, where the incident occurred, to the victim’s home, to express condolences and meet with grieved family and some of the victim’s schoolmates.
Abubakar went on to say that the KSSQAA team went to the Divisional Police Headquarters in Zaria City, where the school principal and vice principal were detained.
“The fact-finding team then moved to Hajiya Gambo Sawaba General Hospital, Zaria, where the victim was formally confirmed dead.
“Finally, the KSSQAA team visited the graveyard where the victim was said to have been put to rest, and a fresh-looking grave was observed,” he said.
As a result, the DG observed that the state government, led by Gov. Uba Sani, assured the “general public of its firm resolve to ensure a conducive learning environment, equity, and justice.”
In this context, he advised the general population to stay calm and law-abiding while the investigation was ongoing so that justice could be delivered properly.
“In the interim, guided by the provisions of its Establishment Act (amended 2015), the KSSQAA has closed down Al-Azhar Academy, Zaria, and the school premises remain sealed pending the outcomes of the investigation,” he said.
