Nigerians and indeed the entire humanity is reeling in shock over the brutal killing of a 200-level student of Home Economics at the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto. The young woman, identified as Deborah Yakubu, was killed by fellow students for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.
One account had it that the ill-fated student was accused of sharing an offensive message in a school Whatsapp group. Another version said she attributed her success in the exams to Jesus and refused to withdraw the statement when asked to.
Whatever it is, this angered some of the Muslim students, who went after her, overpowered the school’s security, who had intervened and taken her to their post, beat her to a pulp and then burn her to death.
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It is unbelievable that such a bestial act could take place on the hallowed grounds of an institution of higher learning and by supposed youths, leaders of tomorrow. One wonders how such a tomorrow would be.
The school was promptly shut, even as condemnations of the horrific action started pouring in.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III condemned the extrajudicial killing of the student and called on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to book.
Also, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and its Youth Wing, YOWICAN, have condemned the gruesome murder. Even the British High Commissioner and several others condemned the beastly act.
Sokoto Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, cut short his engagements in Abuja and returned to Sokoto, where he met with heads of security agencies in the state, as well as the state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Fr. Nuhu Iliya, at the Government House.
Also, the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, while condemning the act, called on the authorities to investigate and ensure that all the culprits are brought to book, saying in a statement that the killing had nothing to do with religion but a criminal act that must be so treated.
The problem with these condemnations and calls is the confusion over who this authority is because such recurrent calls to apprehend and punish the culprits are made every time such evil occurs, but that never happens.
It is strange how a man thinks he can fight for God. Any man that decides to fight and kill another man to appease his god is godless. What kind of god would depend on man’s feeble strength to defend him? Today, however, that is what we see; all manner of deranged men, making life hell for even adherents of the same faith.
It has often been said that Islam is a religion of peace. So, where does this confusion being foisted on us by fundamentalists spring from? The burden is on those who truly understand what Islam believes and teaches to enlighten the misguided among them that their activities are doing more harm than good to the religion.
Imagine a young man in this age and time, who is being trained to be great in life coming boldly on live television to beat his chest for committing such a heinous crime. And an Imam mounting the podium and boldly teaching and inciting fellow Muslims to kill those who blaspheme Prophet Muhammad. In reality, it is such people that repudiate the name of the Prophet, not those they accuse.
Therefore, the need arises to define blasphemy because as it is, people latch on to whatever meets their fancy to convince gullible adherents to foment trouble in the guise of protecting the name of their prophet.
Sokoto went up in smoke when the police in the state confirmed that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the dastardly killing of Deborah. Even Bishop Kukah’s church was among several others, including business places of Christians that were destroyed by irate youths protesting and demanding the release of the two suspects.
Governor Tambuwal quickly imposed a curfew on the people of the state amid the rising tension.
In a bid to forestall further spread of riots to Kaduna, the state government placed an immediate ban on protests related to religious activity throughout the state and also charged religious leaders, community leaders, and traditional rulers throughout the state to complement the efforts of the government and security agencies towards the maintenance of peace and stability.
Unfortunately, such a reign of fear pervades the country all because of some misguided people, who do not even know or understand the faith they purport to profess.
We believe that Deborah was killed not by these hoodlums but by state actors that failed to protect her. She has just been added to the statistics of those wasted in cold blood by religious extremists. It is worrisome that the murderous fanatics have continued to shed innocent blood without anyone holding them accountable.
Previous cases had gone unprosecuted and thus emboldened those who feel they could kill for their god and get away with it. From a very long time ago, dating back to 1980 when a certain Gideon Akaluka was beheaded in Kano and his head hoisted on a stick and paraded around the city, Nigerians only hear and read about such heinous acts but never read or hear about the prosecution or conviction of perpetrators.
How then do we expect this to end? So, Deborah happened as before and will yet happen again despite the wide outcry because the perpetrators are sure that nothing will happen to them. They believe that the ‘authorities’ shall pamper and not prosecute them, probably out of fear or complicity.
Eunice Olawale and Bridget Agbaheme were murdered in 2006 and 2007 respectively over alleged blasphemy but nothing came of the case despite efforts by some concerned Nigerians to see that justice is served.
Some secondary school pupils in Gombe once beat their teacher, a Christian, to death outside the school compound after she had been invigilating an exam. They accused her of desecrating the Quran.
Not long ago, in Bauchi State, a rumour swept through that a Christian teacher had also desecrated the Quran, which prompted riots, that claimed, at least, five lives.
Similar accusations sparked riots in a host of other northern communities. The country has occasionally witnessed violent outbursts of bloody riots, even because of actions in far-flung countries. Some years ago, it was a cartoon in faraway Belgium that set the country on fire.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in religious, communal or political violence. So, it is not about the condemnations but about bringing the culprits in mindless murders to book to serve as deterrence to others.
The level of bigotry and religious intolerance in the country was betrayed by the kind of people that endorsed the murder of Deborah. What has become of the much-trumpeted hate speech when people openly spew hatred and intolerance, and incite people to violence against others or threaten more deaths by a supposedly personal assistant to a state commissioner? If such people reason this way, what does one expect of the gullible citizens?
Indeed, people should be careful of what they say, especially about emotive issues like religion. People should be left to their conscience to choose whether to go to heaven or hell and by whatever vehicle without compelling them otherwise. Even at that, we must learn not to defend or fight for God unless we believe He is incapacitated to fight for Himself in which case he cannot be God.
The truth remains that we are intolerant of the opposing faith. Nobody is under obligation to worship God in a particular setting or way but if some must kill anyone whose beliefs and practices are not in sync with their faith, then there is serious trouble in the land.
Of course, Vice President Yemi Osibanjo has also condemned the killing of Deborah but much more is expected from the Presidency. It is worrisome that very important personalities could not promptly condemn the evil act and some of our so-called leaders, who did, quickly deleted their posts. What a country!
When leaders, even those aspiring to lead the country lack moral rectitude and boldness or are too cowardly to stand up against evil, we wonder then where this country is headed.
It is irreligious to take the life of another human being in the name of religion. These killings in the name of God are often driven by latent animosities and ethnic hatred cloaked in religiosity coupled with hunger and deprivations that tie Nigeria to the tenterhook of backwardness. Only an active security cordon can safeguard deliver her.
The world needs healing; Nigeria needs it even more, especially from misplaced religiosity, which tends to divide this country more than anything else. Christians and Muslims, even animists and outright atheists must realise that we have no other country but Nigeria. Anyone who destroys Nigeria and hopes to gain heaven ultimately shall certainly be hugely disappointed at last.
