Nigerian religious leaders on Thursday called for calm and justice after the stoning of a Christian student in northwestern Nigeria accused of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed.
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The student’s murder took place in Sokoto state, which, like other states in the conservative Muslim north of Nigeria, applies Sharia law in addition to customary law. Dozens of students at Shehu Shagari school on Thursday got student Deborah Samuel stoned and then burned her body after reading a comment she posted on social media which they felt was offensive to Prophet Muhammad.
“Unjustifiable Incident”
Two suspects have been arrested, police said. The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, the highest spiritual authority on Nigerian Muslims, and the influential Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Hassan Kukah, appealed for calm after the student’s murder on Thursday.
“The Sultanate Council condemned the incident (…) and called on the security authorities to bring the perpetrators of this unjustified incident to justice,” Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar said in a statement. The sultan, who also heads the Nigerian Interreligious Council (NIREC) for interfaith harmony, urged “everyone to remain calm and ensure peaceful coexistence” in the country.
Death penalty under Sharia
The Catholic Bishop Kukah also condemned the murder and lamented a “deep shock”. “We call on the authorities to investigate this tragedy and ensure that all guilty are brought to justice,” he said. A video shared on social media shows the dead student, face bleeding and wearing a pink dress, lying on the ground surrounded by dozens of large rocks thrown by her attackers. Police said all suspects identified in this video will be arrested.
Nigeria, a behemoth of 215 million people split almost evenly between a predominantly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south, is one of the most religious countries in the world. In Islam, blasphemy, particularly against the Prophet, is punishable by death under Sharia law, which was introduced in 12 northern Nigerian states in 2000.
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Islamic courts, operating alongside the state judiciary, have handed down death sentences for adultery, blasphemy or homosexuality, but no executions have taken place. Two Muslims were sentenced to death by Islamic courts in 2015 and 2020 for blasphemy against the Prophet.
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