Godstime Simon
Nigerian undergraduates have angrily reacted to the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State, who was flogged and burnt over an alleged blasphemous comment.
The girl was killed on 12th May 2022 and since most Nigerians had not gotten over the shock of the brutal manner she was killed.
According to reports, Deborah made a comment on her school’s WhatsApp platform which her Muslim colleagues considered blasphemous to Prophet Mohammed (SAW), and then they attacked and killed her.
Moreso, it was alleged that she was flogged and burnt by fellow students, who jubilated, and video recorded the killing.
The police in Sokoto State claimed to have arrested the two among the killers and had also charged them to court, not for murder, but for breach of peace.
The recollection of the incident, and the video, which has now become replete on social media, have continued to give people, especially students nightmares and goosebumps, with many of them expressing worries and fears that tertiary institutions were no longer safe.
An undergraduate of the Federal Polytechnic Auchi, Felix Jimoh, reacting to the incident, said: “It was shocking that the killers had enough time and confidence to record Deborah’s killing. It was execution and the recording showed that it was the norm for them. The most painful was that the victim was only making a correction to a content, which was posted in the departmental group chat; it was not departmentally related.”
A Civil Engineering student of the same polytechnic, Chidiebere noted: “If the government and law enforcement truly want to apprehend all the culprits involved, they should begin an anonymous investigation from her classroom. It wasn’t only people who burnt her that killed, her but her classmates who disclosed her identity to the mob were also responsible for her death.”
Miss. Josephine, studying Computer Science, said: “It would be best if the country is divided into its ethnic groups. There will be no need for one of your own without the government taking full action.”
Another student, identified as Khadijah, also has something to say about the matter.
She said: “The mob, which enacted mob justice on Deborah Samuel possesses religious illiteracy. While the killers robbed her of her life, they chanted ‘Allahu Akbar.’ God will not allow anyone to kill someone on his behalf. People are God’s gift to Mankind; everyone has the same body and soul. By respecting the people, He created, we are respecting the Creator. Hatred leads nowhere. People tend to justify their actions, and others do it under the name of religion. But no matter the stories we tell ourselves, what is wrong will be labelled wrong, irrespective of how we try to interpret it.”
A student of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Dainty, said: “If care isn’t taken, we will be forced to live in a society where we are expected to keep mute and watch. The bible says, ‘he who keeps his mouth, keeps his life.’ In the case of Deborah, it would have been best if she had ignored the post. Besides, she wasn’t the only one in the group. However, her comment was not bad, because we can’t live in a world where we can’t express ourselves. After all, we all have the freedom of speech and expression, but in a society where we must juggle religion and law, that sounds like a recipe for chaos. The country will continue to be in disarray unless the government puts into consideration and takes action on the open killings and vices in the society.”
First Published 2022.
