28th July, 2022
By Mustapha Yauri
Kaduna State government has set up an inter-ministerial committee to investigate how a Mathematics teacher at a Zaria school caned a student till she had spinal cord injuries.
Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, a member of the committee, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Zaria.
Other members are the Commissioners for Health, Justice and, Education.
The committee would begin the investigation on Aug. 1 and report its findings and recommendations to Gov. Nasir el-Rufai, she said.
Baba told NAN that the medical expenses incurred by Malam Salihu Umar, father of the student would be refunded by the state government.
She expressed dismay that the school authority refused to honour invitations by an Assault Referral Centre in Zaria when asked to explain the incident.
A national newspaper had reported earlier that the SS2 student, sustained serious injuries on the back of her neck and on spinal cord after a severe beating by her teacher.
Her father said the student was still undergoing physiotherapy sessions after her discharge from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Teaching Hospital, Zaria.
It was at the hospital that medical investigations showed that the student had damages to her neck and spinal cord.
The Mathematics teacher was alleged to have used a heavy stick to flog the girl and her friend for failure to obey his instructions.
Narrating her ordeal, the student said: “our Mathematics teacher wrote a note on the board and instructed that we should not copy till after he had explained the note.
“Unfortunately my female friend and I started to copy the note while he was explaining and he spotted us.
“He then picked a heavy stick which was kept by our night guards in the class and flogged us with it.
“My friend tried to protect herself with her hand and the stick injured her.
“While I was trying to dodge his beating, he succeeded in hitting me at the back of my neck. It was after I returned home that the pain increased in intensity and my parents took me to a clinic for treatment.
“As the days passed, the pain continued to increase with my legs and hand going limb that I hardly moved them by myself.
“I was therefore referred to ABU teaching hospital, Zaria, where I was diagnosed to have sustained a fracture in the neck and that my spinal cord is nearly damaged,’’ she said.