A Christian female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, North West Nigeria, Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, has been killed for alleged blasphemy against Islam founder, Prophet Mohammed.
Sokoto is the seat of the caliphate and its ruler, the Sultan of Sokoto is the spiritual head of Nigerian Muslims.
A video which went viral on social media on May 12 (the day of the incident), showed that Deborah, a 200 level student of the institution, was beaten and stoned to death and subsequently lynched by a mob even as she pleaded with her classmates to spare her life.
An unidentified man speaking Hausa language was heard in the video saying he got her body burnt and shouting “Allahu akbar” (meaning God is greater.”
Deborah, 25, who was the leader of the campus female student fellowship, hailed fromTungan Magajiya town in Rijau Local Government Area of Niger State, North Central Nigeria. She was a member of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA).
According to an account, Deborah had in a post on a WhatsApp chat group thanked Christ that she had passed her examination. She was however said to have been pressured to delete the post and apologised but she refused and asked her group members to cease from discussing religion.
Morning Star reported the Senior pastor of The King Worship Chapel and Ministries, in Kaduna, David Azzaman, as saying that the deceased refused advances from a Muslim and was falsely accused of blasphemy.
“Deborah Emmanuel was complaining in a class WhatsApp group chat, kicking against how they discriminate against Christians in the school in areas of assignments and tests in favour of the Muslims. This is what they used as a yardstick to say she insulted Muhammad.
“She didn’t insult Muhammad, but it was discovered that she turned down a Muslim proposal to date her. That led to him accusing her of insulting prophet Muhammad,” Pastor Azzaman said attributing his source to Christians in the school.
Deborah was buried in her home town on May 14.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested two students in connection with the incident. Sanusi Abubakar, the spokesperson of the police command in Sokoto State, said more of the suspects would be apprehended.
Isah Galadanci, the Sokoto State commissioner for information, said the state governor, Aminu Tambuwal, has ordered an investigation into the incident. He also said a proactive measure would be taken against the escalation of the incident.
He said, “Meanwhile, Governor Aminu Tambuwal has called on the people of the state to remain calm and maintain peace as the government would take appropriate actions on the findings of the investigation by the relevant authority.”
The Sultan of Sokoto, in a statement, condemned Deborah’s killing.
“The Sultanate Council has learned with dismay the unfortunate happenings at the Shehu Shagari College of Education (SSCOE), Sokoto, that led to the loss of life of a female student of the institution,” the sultan said through the secretary of the Sokoto Sultanate Council, Sa’idu Muhammadu Maccido.
“The Sultanate Council condemned the incident in its totality and has urged the security agencies to bring perpetrators of the unjustifiable incident to justice. The Sultanate Council has urged all to remain calm and ensure peaceful co-existence among all people of the state and nation.”
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Reverend Mathew Kukah, asked Christian to remain calm while urging the authorities to arrest and prosecute Deborah’s killers.
President of ECWA, Rev. Stephen Baba Panya, called on the Nigerian authorities to ensure the killers of the Christian student are brought to justice.
He said, “Deborah may be just one young girl whose precious life and ambition has been cruelly cut short, but the entire world is watching, waiting and crying out for justice here on Earth, otherwise, in Heaven,” the Rev. Stephen Baba Panya, president of the ECWA, said.
“In this midnight hour of our nation, at this very trying and agonizing moment, our hearts go out to the parents, siblings and entire family of Miss Deborah and all that are grieving her death; we encourage you to take solace in the fact that no matter how it may look, Deborah’s martyrdom shall never be in vain. Light will ever prevail over the forces of darkness.”
However, a day after the incident, a mob of Muslims vandalised three church buildings in Sokoto following the arrest of two Muslims by the police for allegedly killing Deborah.
The churches vandalised are ECWA building, St. Kevin’s Catholic Church and Holy Family Catholic Cathedral.
The mob also damaged and vandalised shops reportedly owned by Christians in the city.
The Muslims, who made bonfires, were demanding the release of the two persons arrested, Morning Star News further reported.
Followers of Jesus Christ in Nigeria are routinely the targets of Islamic militants, Fulani herdsmen and terror groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
In its 2022 World Watch List report, Christian watchdog, Open Doors, Nigeria came top among 50 countries where Christians were killed for their faith between October 2020 and September 2021.
The report said a total of 4,650 Christians were killed, showing an increase by 1,120 from the previous year.
It also reported that about 2,500 Christians were kidnapped during the period.
Open Doors said Nigeria ranked seventh among the 50 countries where it is hardest to practise Christianity. It came behind Afghanistan, North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Yemen and Eritrea.
The International Christian Concern (ICC), a persecution watchdog based in the US, said in its 2021 report that “Nigeria is one of the deadliest places on Earth for Christians, as 50,000 to 70,000 have been killed since 2000.”
In 2021, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) based in Nigeria’s Anambra State, reported that no fewer than 10 million people were killed in the northern part of the country between July 2009 and July 2021.
The group said about 2,000 Christian schools came under attack during the period.