Deborah Samuel was killed by Muslim students who have become furious on reading a message on WhatsApp that they deemed offensive with regard to the prophet Muhammad.
Le Monde
Muslim students from northwest Nigeria killed a Christian student by stoning, then burned her body, after having accused her of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad, police said on Thursday, May 12. The case occurred in the state of Sokoto, where sharia is applied parallel to ordinary law, as in other states in northern Nigeria.
Dozens of students from the Shehu-Shagari School have become furious when reading a comment posted on social networks by one of their companions, Christian, called Deborah Samuel, whom they considered offensive to The Prophet Muhammad said in a statement in a statement of Sanusi Abubakar, the spokesperson for the Sokoto police. “The students came out of the room where she had been safe by educational officials, killed her and burned the building,” added the spokesperson. Two suspects were arrested, he said.
A student, who gave as the sole name that of Babangida, accused the student of having posted “the offensive commentary on a student group of WhatsApp’s messaging that everyone has seen”. “The Muslim students of the school, who were furious after his insult, mobilized and beat her to death,” he added.
The sharia applined in twelve states
A video of the scene, shared on social networks, shows the dead student, dressed in a pink dress, elongated against the ground among dozens of stones thrown by her pursuers. This video also shows a crowd whipping the body while shouting insults, before stacking worn tires on the body and set fire to the cry of “Allah Akbar”. The police said that all the suspects identified in this video would be arrested. The local government has ordered the immediate closure of the school to determine “the old and immediate causes” of this case.
In Islam, blasphemy, especially against the Prophet, is liable to the death penalty, according to Sharia law. Islamic law was established in 2000 in twelve Northern States of Nigeria. These courts, which work in parallel with the state judicial system, have already pronounced death sentences for adultery, blasphemy or homosexuality, without any execution having taken place so far. Two Muslims had been sentenced to death in 2015 and 2020 by Islamic courts for blasphemy against the Prophet.