Nigerians have continued to express outrage over the macabre killing of a female student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto State, identified as Deborah, who was beaten and set ablaze by her colleagues over alleged blasphemy.
Deborah was alleged to be protesting against the uncontrolled sharing of religious messages on a school WhatsApp group believed to be dedicated only for academic purposes.
In a WhatsApp voice note alleged to have been made by the deceased student, she was heard saying: “HolyGhost fire, nothing will happen to us, you supposed to share things that are relevant in this group.”
However, this angered some of the Muslim students in the school, alleging that the deceased used a blasphemous language against Prophet Muhammad.
The students then stormed the school on Thursday where they beat the deceased to a pulp before she was set ablaze.
In a video trending on social media, some young men were seen hurling stones at the victim.
Following the incident, Governor Aminu Tambuwal ordered the immediate closure of the school.
The governor in a statement issued by the state’s Commissioner for Information, Isah Bajini Galandanci, also directed the Ministry of Higher Education and relevant security agencies in the state to begin investigations into the cause of the unfortunate incident.
Tambuwal further called on the people of the state to remain calm, assuring that investigations is already underway and the government would get to the root of the matter.
The statement reads, “It has come to the notice of the Sokoto State Government, the unfortunate incident that took place at the Shehu Shagari College of Education (SSCOE), Sokoto in which a student of the college lost her life.
“The government has ordered immediate closure of the college.
“The governor has directed the Ministry of Higher Education and relevant security agencies in the state to commence investigations into the remote and immediate causes of the incident and report back to Government”
Meanwhile, below here are some of the reactions of Nigerians harvested from the Twitter.
“So apparently the lady that was killed sent a voice note to her class group chat where she was speaking against her fellow students sending religious broadcast messages to the group. And in the voice note, she said something like “nonsense prophet.” And they killed her for that.”(@MrOdanz)
“Northerners will always have strengh to stone someone to death for blasphemy but become powerless when bandits and herdsmen was killing their people for fun, i also practise Islam and i can’t remember any verse in the Quran where God asked anyone to fight for him, this is madness.”(@Tee_Classiquem1)
“A female student was killed by her own people in Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto today. According to them, she insulted the prophet. She was murdered in a school & the school authorities couldn’t intervene. What kind of country is this?.”(@SavvyRinu)
“Video of that female student murdered in Sokoto by a mob for “religious reasons” is proof that we have a long way to go in this country. Her murderers made a video about it, knowing that nothing will happen to them. They’d even be praised in certain quarters. The year is 2022.”(@aproko_doctor)
“According to multiple reports, Deborah, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, accused of blasphemy was killed and burnt. This is what happens when there are no consequences for actions in society. The government must wake up from their slumber!!”(@mrmacaronii)
