By our reporter 19.6.2026
The Kano State police have launched an investigation into the death of a 14-year-old female student who was allegedly punished at her school for missing at an early morning Muslim prayer session.
According to the girl’s mother Nusaiba Rabiu Dan Sheriff her daughter Maimuna who joined the school last term, was asked to kneel down on a rocky ground and under a burning sunshine from morning till evening hours at the St. Louis Secondary School, a Catholic owned boarding/day institution in Kano on June 13, 2026.
“My daughter was pleading for water, but they refused to give her any,” the mother said while sobbing in a video posted online.
“She later collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where a doctor pronounced her dead.”
The bereaved woman further alleged that school authorities initially concealed the true circumstances surrounding her daughter’s death.
“At first, I had resigned to fate when they lied to me about the circumstances of her demise,” she said. “But I prayed to God to expose what actually happened, and it’s now clear that my daughter was tortured to death.”
She claimed eyewitnesses revealed that the deceased was subjected to the prolonged punishment under intense heat before she collapsed.
“That same Saturday, I was on admission receiving treatment when I received a call that my daughter had been admitted into an intensive care unit,” she said. “I had to jump out of my own sick bed and rush there.”
When contacted, the school principal, Reverend Sister Christiana Diyab, declined to comment on the issue, saying that it was already under police investigation.
“For now, I don’t want to say anything to preempt investigation or pass a verdict on an ongoing issue,” the principal added.
Meanwhile, the Kano State Police Command says it constituted a special investigation panel to probe the case after receiving a formal petition from the late student’s family on June 17.
“Consequently, a Special Investigation Panel (SIP) has been constituted, led by DCP Shehu Idris of the Criminal Investigation Department, with officials from the Kano State Ministry of Justice included to provide legal oversight.
“The panel has already invited three teachers, three senior female students, and two witnesses, all of whom have given statements. Medical and forensic examinations are ongoing to establish the exact cause of death.
“The Command assured the family and the public that the investigation will be thorough, impartial, and transparent, with anyone found culpable to face prosecution. It also appealed to members of the public, especially the school community, to volunteer credible information to aid the probe,” said Kano State police spokesperson CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa.
He added that three teachers, students and two other witnesses are cooperating with the investigation.