Gbenro Adesina
Religious bodies, political leaders, and Nigerians have condemned the killing of a female Christian student, Deborah Yakubu of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto by her Muslim schoolmates.
The Muslim students of the institution conspired together and gruesomely murdered and burnt the remain of one of them for cautioning them against turning the class WhatsApp platform into a religious platform.
According to the police, Deborah Samuel, a level-two student, was accused of making a social media post that blasphemed the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW).
The police said the students forcefully removed the victim from the security room where she was hidden by the school authorities, killed her and burnt the building.
Reacting, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Kukah and the Sultan Council under the leadership of Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’adu Abubakar III described the incident as shocking, saying that it is condemnable.
Kukah in a statement said, “I have just received with deep shock the news of the tragedy that occurred in the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, leading to the gruesome murder of Ms Deborah Yakubu, a 200 level Home Economics student today.”
“We condemn this incident in the strongest terms and call on the authorities to investigate this tragedy and ensure that all the culprits are brought to book. The only obligation that is owed her immediate family, her fellow students and the school authorities is the assurance that those who are guilty of this inhuman act, no matter their motivation, are punished according to our extant laws of the land. This has nothing to do with religion. Christians have lived peacefully with their Muslim neighbours here in Sokoto over the years. This matter must be treated as a criminal act and the law must take its cause”, he added.
He concluded, “Meanwhile, I wish to call on all Christians in Sokoto and around to remain calm and to please pray for the repose of the soul of Ms Deborah. It is the first obligation that we owe her. May God grant her eternal rest and console her immediate family.”
Also, the Sultan Council described the incident as unfortunate, condemning the incident in its totality and asked the security agencies to bring perpetrators of the unjustified incident to book.
Former Vice President and 2023 presidential aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar noted that there was no justification for the gruesome murder.
According to him, “There cannot be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and all those behind her death must be brought to justice. My condolences to her family and friends.”
Condemning the murder, a human rights activist and vocal lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), called on the Nigerian Bar Association – Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) to cancel its conference to be held in Sokoto.
In a statement, he urged the body not to hold the event in the state “where a Nigerian citizen has been brutally murdered and burnt to death.”
“It is barbaric and lawyers should not be seen to be dancing on her grave in that State”, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said.
“We should make a statement to the government by cancelling the conference and hold it in a neighbouring state in the north.”
The annual programme is scheduled to hold from Sunday, May 22 to Thursday, May 26, 2022.
