Deborah Samuel: Outrage grows over killing of Sokoto student as online petition receives over 9,000 signatures in 20 hours
The killing of Deborah Samuel, a 200-level student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State, on Thursday, May 12, 2022y, by her fellow students over blasphemous comments on Prophet Mohammed has sparked outrage on social media.
A petition, initiated by Global Rights, an international human rights organization founded in Washington, DC, in 1978, has received over 9000 signatures less than 24 hours since the campaign was flagged off.
The group is calling on the “Nigerian Police Force, the Nigerian judiciary, and the Sokoto State and federal government to ensure that all those involved in the mobbing and lynching of Deborah Samuel are apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law.”
Deborah was accused of making a social media post that was considered blasphemous by religious fanatics who hounded, killed and burnt her.
“At about 0900hrs, a distress call was received from Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, stating that students were rioting over one female student named Deborah Samuel, a level two student, who was accused of making a social media post that blasphemed the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW),” a statement sent to Neusroom by Sanusi Abubakar, the Sokoto Police PRO said. “Students forcefully removed the victim from the security room where she was hidden by the school authorities, killed her and burnt the building.”
The horrific killing of Deborah which was filmed and shared on social media by her attackers on Thursday is spreading a wave of anger among Nigerians on social media who are calling for justice for the deceased student.
“Those who kill fellow Nigerians of a different religion for Religious Blasphemy do so because they trust that the establishment of the Nigerian-State will cuddle them and not prosecute them,” Oby Ezekwesili, a former Education Minister, tweeted.
Debo ‘Mr Macaroni’ Adedayo, a Nigerian skit maker and activist, was one of the first to call for justice for Deborah.
“Nothing justifies the beating and stoning that eventually led to killing and burning Deborah. This is not how to practice the religion of peace. And if there are people who genuinely believe that she deserved such, then something has gone terribly wrong with our humanity,” he tweeted.
Lawyer and human right activists, Abdul Mahmud said: “Deborah Yakubu, northern Christian, was from Zuru in Kebbi State. If you know the sufferings of Northern minorities and Christians, you’ll appreciate the need to restructure this country. The North is NOT one. We owe it a duty to defend Christian minorities of the North.”
Aisha Yesufu, an activist known for her fearless critic of bad governance, also condemned the killing.
“Your love for the prophet (SAW) has not stopped you from committing all the crimes he instructed you not to. It is to kill on his behalf that you are number one. You are a bloody murder hiding under the cover of Islam,” she said in a tweet which has been retweeted more than 2000 times with over 5000 likes.
President Muhammadu Buhari, while condemning the killing described the gruesome attack and eventual death of Deborah as “resort to self-help by the mob in Sokoto.”
“President Muhammadu Buhari strongly condemns the resort to self-help by the mob in Sokoto, resulting in violence, destruction and the killing of a second-year student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Deborah Samuel, following an allegation that she had blasphemed Muhammed (SAW), the Prophet of Islam on Thursday,” the statement read in part.
While this is coming more than 24 hours since the incident, many Nigerians believe that the gravity of the offence demands a broadcast to condemn the act and assure Nigerians that such actions would not be tolerated.
With the 2023 general election approaching, Presidential aspirants like Bola Tinubu, Bukola Saraki, Peter Obi, and other leading aspirants, from the two leading political parties – the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who have been touring different parts of the country campaigning also appear not to be bothered about the outcry which they believe may affect their ambition. Some observers say they are sceptical about condemning the killing for fear of losing votes from the Northern part of the country, which is predominantly a Muslim zone.
Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and leading presidential aspirant in the PDP, who condemned the killing in a social media post on Thursday night, hurriedly deleted his tweet and Facebook post after some Northerners threatened not to vote for him in the 2023 election.
“There can not be justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and those behind her death must be brought to justice. My condolences to the family,” Atiku wrote in the now-deleted tweet.
His action irked many Nigerians on social media who are now debating his position on religious extremism and the protection of the lives of other citizens who are non-Muslims.
Add that Atiku has, however, explained that the tweet was taken down because his handlers didn’t get his approval before commenting on the issue, saying he fears no one.
With the 2023 general election hitting up, Presidential aspirants of both major political parties (APC and PDP) are sceptical about condemning the killing for fear of losing votes from the Northern part of the country.
The North, with a population of over 70 million, has been regarded as a determinant factor in winning elections in Nigeria.
Bukola Saraki, one of the leading Presidential aspirants in the PDP, whose presidential declaration came a few hours before Deborah was killed on Thursday, has been mum on the issue.
In his declaration speech on Thursday, Saraki had promised to be a bridge between the North and the South, between Muslims and Christians.
The Sokoto Police PRO Sanusi Abubakar in a statement sent to Neusroom said two people have been arrested over the killing.
His statement did not provide further details.
Many Nigerians, however, fear that Deborah may never get justice due to past cases of killings in the north over alleged blasphemy.
Global Rights is also reminding the Federal Government of Nigeria of other cases of mob action against those accused of blasphemy on Prophet Muhammad while insisting that Deborah gets justice.
“We remind the government and people of Nigeria of Shuaibu Yohanna, a Pastor killed on the 22nd of September 2021, in Kano state; Bridget Patience Agbahime, a 74-year-old street vendor of Christian faith, beaten to death on the 2nd of June 2022, in Kano state, by an angry mob allegedly for blasphemy, and Methodus Chimaije Emmanuel, a 24-year-old street vendor who was killed in a similar pattern on the 29th of May 2016, in Niger state, also after being accused of blasphemy.”
In 2020, Yahaya Sharif Aminu, 22, was accused of blasphemous comments against the prophet and was sentenced to death in Kano by a Sharia Court in the State. Sharif’s lawyer, Kola Alapinni, dissatisfied with the ruling, filed a case in the Nigerian law court as the case is still before the Court of Appeal, Kano Division.
But Mubarak Bala, who, in 2020 is said to be an atheist, was arrested in Kaduna and later sentenced to 24 years imprisonment on April 5, 2022, over allegations of blasphemy.
Some of the actions of the religious fanatics in the northern part of Nigeria, where Sharia law is still being practised, have gone unpunished over the years.
