Deborah Samuel and the Religious Intolerance of Northern Extremists

OKAFOR MOSES CHINEDU

 

It was shocking when the world woke up to the news that a young girl, Deborah Samuel, has been murdered in cold blood by some co-students, who can be described as religious fanatics at the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto.

 

 

What was her offence? She was killed over an alleged blasphemy on Thursday. Videos of the late student being stoned and beaten with sticks were shared on social media. Her killing had sparked outrage across the country, with Nigerians asking the government to fish out the perpetrators of the crime.

 

 

The late Deborah, a 22-year-old woman, a 200-level student of Economics from Niger State, has since been buried by her traumatised parents, who on their own travelled to Sokoto to collect the charred remains of their daughter.

 

 

 

She was a student at the Shehu Shagari College of Education. Her views were quickly determined to be “blasphemy” by the religious Nazi among her classmates who in due course, seized her and put her to death in the name of the prophet of Islam.

 

 

 

It was reported that Deborah had told her colleagues on a WhatsApp group to stop posting religious and non-academic content. In doing this, her accusers were angry that she had used blasphemous words.

 

 

The fanatics then reportedly demanded that the young lady retract her statement. Instantly, they mobilised a mob, stoned Deborah and battered her with sticks, piled tyres and wood on her lifeless body and immolated her.

 

 

While reacting to the incident, the president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari did not help matter. Though he condemned the murder, he did this with a homily that people “should respect other people’s religion” and ordering an enquiry. This was troubling. Many Nigerians expect Buhari to come out loudly and condemned the devils in human form, who killed the innocent girl.

 

 

From the look of things, government and some individuals and groups in the North want to quickly dispense with this issue without doing justice to whom it is due according to the laws of Nigeria. They are deliberately and impudently pursuing the course of impunity, not bothered by the deep hurts that the injustice could leave within the family of the deceased and the Christian community in general.

 

 

Religious extremism gains grounds in Northern Nigeria because the perpetrators are not severely punished. Instead, they often go scot-free. State governments make thing worse by promoting religion contrary to the explicit provision of Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution that states, “The government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion.”

 

 

If truly we have to be a united people, co-existing as a people, the killing in the name of religious must stop. Islam, according to what is being preach, is a religious of peace. The question is from where could we say these fanatics get their doctrine to be killing senselessly? This is a question begging for an answer.

 

 

It is believe that if these perpetrators of this religious fanaticism are not receiving patronage and support from the power that be in the country, they would have been caught and dealt by the law of the land.

 

 

All these killings must be stopped in Nigeria now, else other religious faithful may take up arm and the country set on fire.