mourning the death of our daughter Fatima. She was such a lovely kid who loves taking care of her younger ones. Her dream was to become a teacher,” says Malam Tasi’u Maikano, the father of late Fatima – a SS2 student of Government Girls Arabic Secondary school Fago.
Fatima’s dream was cut short following her death a forthnight ago purportedly from a corporal punishment by a mathematics teacher, one Abubakar Suleiman.
Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the maths teacher, also known as Sikiti, was not a full-time teacher or casual staff but was engaged through a private arrangement by the principal of the school for a monthly stipend of N5,000.
While narrating the incident that led to his daughter’s death, Maikano who resides in Kofar Bai in Katsina town said he was called by one of the vice principals of the school on February 13 to come to the school because Fatima wasn’t feeling fine.
Maikano arranged with some relatives and embarked on the 2-hour journey to the school. On getting there, he was informed that Fatima’s health condition worsened when she fell down after an evening bath. They said she may have been hit by evil spirits.
On seeing his daughter, he shelved his earlier decision of taking her back to Katsina for medical care and drove straight to Daura General Hospital which was less than 15 minutes drive from the school. No sooner had they arrived, than the doctor on duty confirmed her dead.
Maikano called the vice principal to inform him of what had happened and took the long ride back to Katsina town to begin her funeral rights and burial the next day, February 14.
Four days after her burial, Maikano said he asked for his late daughter’s school bag and books. While going through them, he came across a diary which the students refer to as ‘slum book’ where they sometimes document their daily activities.
In the last page, the late Fatima had written in Hausa “Allah Sarki ranar Alhamis munzo firef akaci miyi lilin muka yi malam Abu sikitu ya bugimu har ya fasni ko ma goshi banda lafia ina masassara da ciwon baya kamar na mutu” which translates in English as “God is great. On Thursday at prep, we were asked to kneel down. Abu Sikiti beat us and I got wounded, I’m down with fever and my back aches like I’m dying.”
Speaking with Daily Trust Saturday, the deceased’s father said “When I came across this note, I became confused and called the vice principal and told him about it.
Source: Daily Trust
