In a shocking incident in Nigeria, a Christian student named Deborah Samuel was beaten to death by an Islamic mob over an allegation of blasphemy in college in the northwestern region of Sokoto. As per reports, the violent mob, comprised of Deborah’s fellow students in a WhatsApp group, was upset over some of her comments and had declared her a ‘blasphemer’.
In videos of the brutal mob lynching and burning that have gone viral, Deborah’s killers can be seen shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’, showing off the matchbox with which they burned her battered corpse and rejoicing in the violent deed.
The victim Deborah Samuel was a student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, in Sokoto State. Reports stated that a WhatsApp group was being used by Deborah and her fellow students where someone had shared an Islamic post. To the Islamic post, Deborah had responded with a comment that was deemed ‘blasphemous’ by some Muslim students.
Some reports mention that Deborah had only objected to religious content being shared in a college WhatsApp group.
What followed was a violent mob assault on Deborah while the college authorities and police watched helplessly. Reports state that attempts to rescue the woman failed because of the size of the mob. The mob, comprised of male Muslim students of the college mercilessly beat, stoned Deborah to death and then burned her body.
“The police sacrificed the lady after the students began throwing sticks and stones at them, then the students used stones and sticks to beat the lady. After being beaten, she was set on fire,” a college student who witnessed the incident has told The Guardian.
The college authorities have shut down the institution for an indefinite period of time following the incident. The police have reportedly arrested 2 accused persons, but most of the culprits remain at large.
Sokoto state is under Sharia law, and blasphemy is punishable by death
The Sokoto area is largely Muslim. Nigeria is divided into northern Muslim parts and southern Christian parts.
The Sokoto state is under Islamic Sharia law, like almost a dozen other Nigerian states and it is unlikely that Deborah’s killers will be brought to justice because killing blasphemers is ‘allowed’ in Islam. In Sokoto state, the crime of ‘blasphemy’ means the death penalty.
In 2016, a 74-year-old Christian woman was beaten to death in Kano by a Muslim mob who had accused her of blasphemy. Bridget Abgahime was killed by the mob outside her own shop. In 2021, another person was killed by a mob over similar allegations in the Darazo district in the Bauchi state, a report in Voanews stated.
In 2007, a teacher was beaten to death by secondary school students in Nigeria over allegations of disrespecting the Quran.