In Nigeria, religious leaders call for calm as the country is in shock after the murder of a Christian student. The young woman was stoned to death by her Muslim comrades, who accused her of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed.
The case occurred in the state of Sokoto, where Sharia law applies. Two people were arrested and the school closed indefinitely. It all started with an audio message posted to a WhatsApp group. In this audio, heard by RFI’s Lagos-based Hausa editorial team, the victim, Deborah Samuel, responds to an article shared by one of the other members. The article talks about the Prophet Muhammad. For Deborah, the group is not supposed to talk about religion, and she then makes comments she finds offensive about the Prophet, specifically calling him a “thug.”
Words unappreciated by his Muslim comrades. Enraged, they forcibly took her out of the room where she had been taken to safety by the education officials. She fell face down, her pink dress rumpled. The police tried to intervene, throwing tear gas at the angry students, but the latter hit back with rocks and sticks.
A viral video
According to a witness, the police finally gave in and left Deborah in the hands of her colleagues, who shouted “Allah Akbar” in anger. She will die after being flogged and burned alive. Scenes of unbearable violence additionally filmed and subsequently broadcast on social networks.
Despite this barbarism, voices are being raised in Nigeria to justify the actions of these students. At a meeting Thursday between the governor and priests in Sokoto, some felt the young girl had not heeded her peers’ warnings and therefore deserved what happened to her. The argument is that under Sharia, the Koranic law in force in Sokoto State, blasphemy, particularly against the Prophet, is punishable by death.