Over 28,000 Nigerians Sign Petition Demanding Prosecution Of Deborah Samuel’s Killers

Over 28,000 Nigerians Sign Petition Demanding Prosecution Of Deborah Samuel’s Killers

At least 28,985 Nigerians have signed a fresh petition calling for the arrest and prosecution of all the people involved in the lynching and killing of Deborah Yakubu Samuel over alleged blasphemy of Prophet Muhammad in Sokoto State on May 12.
It has been one month and 18 days since the 200-Level female Christian student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto was lynched, stoned to death and set ablaze by her Muslim colleagues over alleged blasphamy of Prophet Muhammad.

Deborah’s killers had also made a video boasting of her killing, while many Muslim clerics and scholars, top government officials and politicians of Muslim religion defended and expressed their support for her killing over what they described as crossing the “Muslim red line.”
Following a public outrage within and outside Nigeria, the Sokoto State government announced that it arrested two of the suspected killers and rather than charging them with murder case, said suspects were charged with “criminal conspiracy and inciting of public disturbance.”
Whereas the Sokoto State government claimed that one of the killers in the viral video was from Niger Republic and was at large, nothing has been heard about two suspects arrested who was represented by about 35 Muslim laywers on their arraignment.
The fresh petition was by the Global Rights to the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, the Inspector-General of Police, Baba Usman, and President Muhammadu Buhari, calling on the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian judiciary, Sokoto State and the federal government to ensure that all those involved in the mobbing and lynching of Deborah were arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.
The organisation while condemning the monstrous killing of Deborah said, “Global Rights strongly condemns the murder of Ms. Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, by students of the same institution over alleged blasphemy.
“We are utterly appalled by the brazen posting and subsequent distribution of a video recording of the inhumane episode across multiple social media platforms. Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of the deceased in this difficult time.
“We remind the Nigerian government that this trend in Northern Nigeria has only continued because past victims and the families of victims have not gotten any justice while perpetrators are further emboldened by state-enabled impunity.
“This deeply disturbing action calls for a reflection on the state of affairs in Nigeria. It is an indictment on law enforcement and all arms of government when religious fundamentalists do not just confidently kill innocents despite the presence of police and security but have the audacity to film such a criminal act, post it online, and proudly admit their involvement. It is a testament to the failure of the state to put in place effective laws and implement them. Without a doubt, the pattern of the government’s acquiescence to similar crimes through its complacent enablement of impunity has clearly been established.
“We remind the government and people of Nigeria of Shuaibu Yohanna, a Pastor killed on the 22nd of September 2021, in Kano state; Bridget Patience Agbahime, a 74-year-old street vendor of Christian faith, beaten to death on the 2nd of June 2022, in Kano state, by an angry mob allegedly for blasphemy, and Methodus Chimaije Emmanuel, a 24-year-old street vendor who was killed in a similar pattern on the 29th of May 2016, in Niger state, also after being accused of blasphemy.
“We reiterate our call to the Sokoto state government, the federal government and the Nigerian security agencies to bring to bear the full force of the state’s justice system on the killers of Ms. Deborah Samuel and ensure their prosecution to the full extent of the law. Nigerians must unify in demanding justice for Ms. Deborah Samuel and demand an end to endemic state-enabled impunity for crimes committed under the guise of religion.
“We urge the government at all levels to take tangible and urgent steps towards fulfilling their constitutional mandate of ensuring the security and welfare of all citizens and protecting the right to life, freedom of thought, and religion by demonstrating political will to end religiously motivated, and other forms of lynching and the practice of jungle justice in dealing with actual and perceived crimes in Nigeria.
“The rule of law must prevail in Nigeria, and the Constitution must be respected as the ground norm. Citizens must therefore desist from taking laws into their own hands and delivering their own brands of justice. The government must act and act fast.”

 

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Source: Over 28,000 Nigerians Sign Petition Demanding Prosecution Of Deborah Samuel’s Killers