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Claim: A video circulated on WhatsApp shows an alleged Islamic teacher beating two students with a heavy stick, punishing them according to Shari’a law.
Verdict: Misleading. DUBAWA’s findings show that the beating of the girls is from a Maiduguri resident whose compound the students entered to pluck mangoes. He is not an Islamic teacher or affiliated with any Islamic school.
Full Text
A disturbing video showing an individual alleged to be an Islamic teacher brutally beating two students as a punishment under Sharia law has been circulating on WhatsApp and has sparked widespread outrage and concern.
The one-minute 30-second video has been widely shared on Facebook (here and here) and on X. Many have expressed shock and disgust at the alleged abuse while demanding justice for the children involved.
“This is an Islamiyyah school in Maiduguri, Northern Nigeria (Ile keu). This teacher is using Sharia law here. Parents can’t do anything here.” The Facebook caption reads.
Some users on other social media platforms, such as X, criticised the act and condemned the alleged Islamic teacher.
“Children raised like this would grow up to become terrorists because they would think it’s normal,” @jadumzee commented.
“Islamic is evil,” @ifezy007 wrote.
The virality of the claim and the outrage it generated prompted DUBAWA to examine the video to verify its veracity.
Verification
DUBAWA subjected the video to the InVid verifier to identify the key frames of the footage, then analysed part of the video using Google Reverse Image Search.
The result led us to a similar video posted several times on social media platforms in March 2025.
Reports confirmed that the incident happened in the Pompomari bypass area of Maiduguri, the Capital of Borno state.
However, as Daily Trust reported, the two girls, Hauwa and Hajara Goni, were headed to school when they decided to pluck mangoes at a nearby compound owned by a certain Muhammed Shettima. They said they had requested a boy in the house to pluck mangoes and had soon finished when Muhammed encountered them.
He threatened to behead the girls, but his wife pleaded with him and handed him sticks to flog them instead.
“He locked the gate, brought out a cutlass, and threatened to hack us to death, but his wife stopped him and brought some sticks for him,” they told Daily Trust.
Daily Trust reported that Muhammed later opened the gate, but when his wife saw that one of the girls had urinated on herself, she told her husband to flog them more, causing one of them to faint. A tricycle driver who knew the girls’ brother took them home out of sympathy.
Punch and Vanguard also reported similar narratives.
The Borno Police Command also posted updates about this development on its X handle on March 22, 2025.
The release was tagged “UPDATE: Couple Arrested Over Viral Child Abuse Video in Maiduguri.”
Conclusion
This viral claim is misleading. Although the video is real and happened in Maiduguri, it was about a couple beating two girls for seeking fruits from their compound, not an Islamic teacher.
So what happened to the brutal man that beat the girls? Was he prosecuted and if yes, what was the outcome?