₦airaland Forum

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).

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.