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Thursday, May 12, 2022

Sultan preaches religious tolerance after Sokoto thugs burnt Christian student for alleged blasphemy

Irate Muslim mob stoned and burnt a lady identified as Ms Deborah over claims she blasphemed Prophet Mohammed, Peoples Gazette reported earlier.

• May 12, 2022
A composite of Sa’ad Abubakar and the body of Ms Deborah

The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, has condemned the gruesome killing of a female student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto. 

Irate Muslim mob stoned and burnt a lady identified as Ms Deborah over claims she blasphemed Prophet Mohammed, Peoples Gazette reported earlier.

In a statement signed by the secretary of the Sultanate, Sa’idu Muhammadu Maccido, the council urged security agencies to bring perpetrators of the dastardly act to justice.

“The Sultanate council condemned the incident in its totality,” the statement from the Sultanate read, “and has urged the security agencies to bring the perpetrators of the unjustifiable incident to justice.”

The Council further urged “all to remain calm and ensure peaceful co-existence among all people of the State and nation.”

Killing over blasphemy has been a recurring crisis across northern Nigeria for years, but authorities have not been able to address the situation. Culprits are usually not arrested, or released shortly after being taken into custody in the predominantly Muslim region.

On June 2, 2016, Bridget Agbahime, 74, was stoned to death by fanatics in Kano’s main market.

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje later freed the killers.  

The Sokoto State government and police authorities are yet to react to the religion-motivated murder.

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