Buhari Condemns Sokoto College Murder

14 May Buhari Condemns Sokoto College Murder

President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the murder of a female student, Deborah Samuel, in Sokoto for alleged blasphemy.

A mob on Thursday, killed the Christian student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Wamako, Sokoto State.

Reacting to the sad incident, President Buhari said, the case demands an impartial, extensive probe into all that happened before and during the incident.

The president who made his feelings known in a statement issued on Friday by his media aide, Garba Shehu, said the news of the killing of the young lady by fellow students was a matter of concern.

He noted that Muslims all over the world demand respect for the Holy Prophets, including Isah (Alaihissalam, Jesus Christ) and Muhammad (SAW), “but where transgressions occur, as alleged to be the case in this instance, the law does not allow anyone to take matters into their hands.

“Moreover, religious leaders preach that it is not for the believer to judge the actions of another person.

“The constituted authority must be allowed to deal with such matters when they arise.

“No person has the right to take the law into his or her own hands in this country. Violence has and never will solve any problem.”

Buhari also directed the Ministries of Information and Culture, Police Affairs and that of Communications and Digital Economy to work with GSM providers and Tech companies to help contain the spread of false and inflammatory information through social media.

The president extended the nation’s condolences to the family of the deceased student and wished all those injured a quick recovery.

He commended the immediate response to the incident by the Sokoto State Government and urged religious and community leaders to call citizens’ attention to the need to exercise the right to freedom of speech responsibly.

Buhari called for tampered comments by the media and calm among the general population while investigation is ongoing to find out the remote and immediate causes of the incident.

…Tambuwal meets Sokoto Muslim leaders

Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto, on Friday, met with Muslim leaders in the state over the killing of Deborah Samuel, a female student at the Shehu Shagari College of Education.

The student was attacked by a mob over remarks considered to be an insult to Prophet Mohammed.

In the wake of the incident, there was a flurry of condemnation from civil society organisations (CSOs), Muslim leaders and groups, most notably Muhammadu Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto.

Subsequently, the Sokoto governor called for a meeting of the state’s Islamic leaders in the government house.

….CAN, UK Demand Arrest, Prosecution of Deborah’s Killers

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF) and the British government have condemned the murder of Deborah Samuel, a 200-level female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, by some fanatical students of the same school for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in a Whatsapp post.

They are also demanding for the arrest and prosecution of all those responsible for the murder of Deborah, who was attacked and killed by the mob of fanatics that burnt her corpse at the school’s premises last Thursday.

The General Secretary of CAN, Joseph Daramola, in a statement yesterday said: “The vampires must be brought to book. The unlawful and dastardly action of the perpetrators must not only be condemned by all right-thinking people but the security operatives must fish them out, prosecute them as it is expected of them.

“It is the failure of the security agencies and the government to rise up to such criminalities in the past that gave birth to terrorists and bandits. And as long as the State fails to bring these beasts and criminals amidst us to book so also the society will continue to be their killing fields.

“We acknowledge the swift reaction of His Eminence, Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III who not only condemned the criminal and religious intolerant action but also called on the security agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“We also call on all teachers and preachers of religious intolerance, extremism, and terrorism to repent before the wrath of God descends on them if the State failed to bring them to book. They are agents of death amidst us.

“We recall the provocative and demeaning advertisement of the Sterling Bank where the bank compared the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to “Agege bread”, up till now, nobody was attacked and even the CAN leadership has accepted the apology tendered by its Managing Director, Abubakar Suleiman.

“Killing for any God in the name of blasphemy is ungodly, satanic, foolish, reprehensible, and totally unacceptable. This is not a Stone Age and Nigeria is not a Banana Republic. Nigeria remains a non-religious State where no religion is supreme to the other.

“We acknowledge and commend the restraint of the Christian students of the College who refused to embrace self-help and reprisal attacks on those who murdered their colleague. It is our prayer that those vampires in religious garments will not push the country to a religious war.

“This is why both the government and the security agencies must stop treating them with kid gloves. Enough is enough.”

The Northern Christian Elders in a statement by its Chairman, Ejoga Inalegwu, in Kaduna yesterday, called on the government to immediately apprehend and make an example of those who perpetrated the dastardly act.

The Christian group noted that anything short of apprehending and

prosecuting those involved in the heinous act was unacceptable.