Headline

Teacher Flogs Pupil Over Homework, Victim Vomits, Dies

Published

4 years ago

May 25, 2022

A Junior Secondary School 2 pupil of Simple Faith Schools, Agbara, Lagos State, Emmanuel Amidu, has died at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Surulere.

The victim’s father, Akinola Amidu, claimed that the 12-year-old was flogged by a teacher when he went to school on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

He said his son started vomiting shortly after the beating and was rushed to a hospital, where he gave up the ghost.

The distraught father alleged that the school management was covering up his son’s death and protecting the mathematics teacher, one Steven, who allegedly flogged Emmanuel for not completing his assignment.

He said, “I was at home that Thursday because I was on leave. I recall that Emmanuel asked me for money to buy a new exercise book and I gave him N500 to buy the book and give the remaining change to his sister.

“Later that day, I was called by the management of the school that Emmanuel was vomiting. Meanwhile, this was a boy who left home without any health issue. I had to go to the school and we moved him to a hospital.

“I later learnt that the whole thing started after their class teacher, Mr Steven, beat the whole of his class for not completing their mathematics assignment.

“Emmanuel was actually using my phone torchlight to do his assignment a day before, but I had to collect the phone from him and his sister because I needed to be in contact with the office. We had issues with our electricity at home.

“It was at LUTH that I lost my son. Meanwhile, the management of the school quickly ran to the Morogbo Police Station at Agbara to report that my son died from vomiting.

“How can somebody just die from vomiting if nothing triggers it? The management of the school is trying to protect the teacher.”

Akinola, 45, demanded the arrest and prosecution of the teacher, as he urged the state government and the police to give the family justice.

Emmanuel’s 13-year-old sister, Rachael, told PUNCH Metro that her brother vomited after he was beaten.

She said, “I was called by our English teacher that my brother was not feeling fine and he did not eat and had been sleeping.

“His friend told me that they were beaten for not doing their sums in mathematics and after that he was just sleeping and vomiting.”

The school Principal, Adetayo Akanji, described the incident as unfortunate.

He said, “I was there when Emannuel died on Friday and it was unfortunate that it happened this way. Yes, Steven flogged the whole class for not doing their sums, but not with the intention to hurt them.

“Some hours after that, he (Emmanuel) placed his head on his desk and he started vomiting, after which water was poured on his head.

“When he started to vomit, the proprietor called me and we took the boy to the hospital. In fact, the father joined us when he was taken to LUTH where he and I were running around to get prescribed drugs for him. But before we came back, he had given up. Our school reported the matter at the Morogbo Police Station.”

The school proprietor was contacted on his telephone number, but his wife, Fola Ashaka, who picked up the call, said PUNCH Metro’s enquires on the matter had been forwarded to the appropriate quarters.

She then cut off the call.

She said, “Your message sent earlier to me has been received and it has been sent to the appropriate quarters.”

Efforts to speak to the teacher involved in the incident were abortive, as neither the principal nor the proprietor’s wife was willing to provide his contact.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the incident was not reported.

“I have called the DPO of Morogbo Police Station and he confirmed that no such case was reported there,” he added.

In 2020, a secondary school teacher in Isawo, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, identified only as Emmanuel, was reported to have beaten a pupil to death over the student’s inability to answer a question in class.

The state police command had said that the matter was also not reported.

A lawyer, Toyin Taiwo, said the Lagos State Government had prohibited flogging of children in schools.

“Children have rights and they must be respected. This is one of the reasons for training programmes organised for teachers, parents and guardians on how to handle children,” she added.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, Mrs Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, all forms of abuse of children are criminal.

She said, “This is evident in the enactment of the Child Rights Law which came into force in 2007 but amended in 2015. Since then, the state has gone on to formulate policies that pertain to safeguarding and protecting children, especially in child centres, institutions and schools.

“To this end, all forms of child abuse, including physical or sexual, are criminal in nature and the full wrath of the law would be unleashed on anybody found culpable.”

PUNCH.

Headline

Russia Insists Ukraine Must Cede Land Or Face Continued Military Push

Published

22 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own — otherwise his army would take it by force.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.

Washington has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hopes to finalise through upcoming talks with Moscow and Kyiv.

“If Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations,” Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. “If they don’t, then we will achieve it by military means.”

Russia controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. The issue of occupied land, which Kyiv has said it will never cede, is among the biggest stumbling blocks in the peace process.

Another important issue in the talks are Western security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv says are needed to prevent Moscow from invading again in the future.

Washington’s original plan — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

The US pared back the original plan over the weekend following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but has not yet released the new version.

Putin, who has seen the new plan, said it could be a negotiation starter.

“Overall, we agree that it could form the basis for future agreements,” he said of the latest draft, which the US is thought to have shortened to about 20 points.

US negotiator Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow next week to discuss the revised document, Putin said.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meanwhile due to visit Kyiv later this week, Ukraine’s top presidential aide Andriy Yermak said.

– ‘Little can be done’ –

In his remarks Thursday, Putin repeated the claim that Russia had encircled the Ukrainian army in Pokrovsk and Myrnograd in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region — the most fiercely embattled area and a key target for Moscow’s forces.

“Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov are completely surrounded,” he said, using the Russian names for the cities.

Moscow was also advancing in Vovchansk and Siversk, as well as approaching the important logistic hub of Guliaipole, he added.

The Russian offensive “is practically impossible to hold back, so there is little that can be done about it”, Putin said.

Ukraine has denied Pokrovsk and Myrnograd are encircled, insisting its forces continue to hold the enemy along the front line.

Putin also questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy and said signing any agreement with him would be legally “almost impossible” at the moment, a suggestion that has drawn groans from Kyiv and its allies.

According to data analysed by AFP from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces have conquered an average of 467 square kilometres (180 square miles) each month in 2025 — a step up from 2024.

Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the worst armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.

Headline

Morocco Jails French Rapper Maes For Kidnapping Bid

Published

2 days ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A Moroccan court has sentenced French rapper Maes to seven years in prison on charges including the formation of a criminal gang and attempted kidnapping, local reports said Wednesday.

Maes, who has roots in Morocco and whose real name is Walid Georgey, was arrested upon landing in Morocco in January after fleeing the United Arab Emirates, where he feared he could be extradited to France, the reports said.

French authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for him over a separate criminal case.

He appeared in court late Tuesday and was found guilty of “forming a criminal organisation, attempted abduction and unlawful confinement” of a rival in Morocco, news website TelQuel reported.

The rapper with over a billion views on his YouTube channel was accused of tasking a gang and hitmen with killing the rival, but the plot was foiled, TelQuel added.

Maes has denied all charges, with his lawyers calling the case “empty” and “arguing that no evidence linked him to the other defendants”, TelQuel added.

Ten other people were sentenced as part of the case, with terms ranging from one to 10 years, according to news website Media24.

AFP was unable to independently verify the reports as prosecutors were not immediately reachable for comment.

In 2020, when Maes was one of France’s most-streamed rappers, he fell victim to extortion attempts in his native Sevran, a suburb north of Paris, according to reports.

He retaliated by opening fire with weapons he had at home, leading to a shootout. He then fled to Dubai with his family, according to an interview with French YouTube channel LEGEND.

Following the killing of his manager in 2022, he was suspected of ordering reprisals against those he believed were behind the murder, according to reports.

AFP

Headline

UK Court Clears Comedy Writer Of Harassing Transgender Woman

Published

2 days ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A London court on Tuesday cleared Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan of harassing a transgender activist online but found him guilty of criminal damage to their mobile phone.

Linehan, who co-created the popular 1990s sitcom “Father Ted” but has more recently become well-known for his gender critical views, had been accused of sending Sophia Brooks “abusive and vindictive” messages on social media.

He was also charged with criminal damage after deliberately knocking a phone out of Brooks’s hand as they filmed him on the sidelines of a London conference.

Ruling on the case, District Judge Briony Clarke said she was not convinced Linehan’s conduct “was oppressive and unacceptable beyond merely unattractive, annoying or irritating”.

Clarke also concluded Brooks was not “as alarmed and distressed as they portrayed themself to be”.

But convicting Linehan of criminal damage, the judge ruled he was “angry and fed up” and did not use “reasonable force” when the phone was taken from Brooks.

Clarke fined him £500 ($655) and ordered him to pay costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200.

The Irish writer, who also co-created the popular sitcoms “Black Books” and “The IT Crowd”, became embroiled in a free speech row in Britain earlier this year over his anti-transgender stance.

It followed his arrest at London’s Heathrow Airport by armed police over accusations of inciting violence with his X posts insulting transgender people.

The arrest sparked a backlash and claims of state overreach, including from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. But in October, UK prosecutors said they would take “no further action” in that case.

AFP