A student of Musbaudeen, a Madrasa (Arabic/Quranic) school in Ilorin, Kwara State, has reacted to the brutal flogging 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 for 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 that anger that made them beat some of us on Wednesday, while others were flogged on Saturday.
“One of us drank Trophy [beer], while all the other drinks on the table were Malta Guinness and energy drinks. So, that is what happened.”
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When asked to react to a separate video showing some students dousing one another with alcohol, Muhideen said, “I don’t know about that. At the party we attended on Sunday, nobody was bathed in drinks. Only one among us ordered a bottle of Trophy.”
Another student, Abdulmumin Jibrin, who was among those that was flogged, however, thanked the school authorities for “disciplining” them.
He said that he told his colleagues who were not happy about the flogging not to post the video on social media, but they went ahead to do so.
Jibrin said, “We went for a party last Sunday and we were many. Three of us were flogged on Wednesday, while the rest were flogged on Saturday.
“As they flogged us on Wednesday, we believe we deserved the flogging as a form of discipline. We deserved it, but some of the students that were flogged went to post it on social media and I told them not to.
“The way some of our parents called the Imam to express support is what good parents should do because discipline will ensure that we don’t do that again.”
The Kwara State Government has, however, stepped into the matter.
The Punch
