Deborah Samuel; UK, CAN condemns the murder of College Student.

 

The British government has taken a stand, condemning the killing of Miss Deborah Samuel Yakubu by her supposed coursemates describing the murder as horrific. The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, condemned the dastardly act in a tweet on Friday from her personal handle @catrionalaing which was retweeted by the High Commission via its handle @ UKinNigeria. “I condemn the murder of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto, and urge the police and relevant authorities to ensure the perpetrators of the horrific act are made to face justice in line with the law,” the UK top envoy tweeted. 

Deborah, who was a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, was killed and burnt by Muslim students of the school on Thursday, 12th May, for what was termed as 'blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad'. 

The 200-level Home Economics student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, was on Thursday said to have made a comment on her school’s WhatsApp platform which her Muslim colleagues considered blasphemous of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and killed her before setting her corpse ablaze.

Also, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and its Youth Wing (YOWICAN) have spoken up on the gruesome murder. In a statement released in Abuja on Friday titled ‘Deborah’s Killers Must Be Brought To Book’, CAN’s General Secretary, Joseph Bade Daramola, described killing for any God as ungodly, satanic, foolish, reprehensible and totally unacceptable. He warned the government and the security agencies against treating perpetrators of such dastardly acts with 'kid gloves'.

Daramola said, “The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemns in strong terms the gruesome murder of a Christian, 200-Level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Deborah Samuel by some extremist fellow students on alleged blasphemy. The unlawful and dastardly action of the perpetrators must not only be condemned by all right thinking people but the security operatives must fish them out, prosecute them as it is expected of them.

“It is the failure of the security agencies and the government to rise up to such criminalities in the past that gave birth to terrorists and bandits. And as long as the State fails to bring these beasts and criminals amidst us to book, our society will continue to be their killing fields.

“We acknowledge the swift reaction of His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III who not only condemned the criminal and religious intolerant action but called on the security agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice. It is our expectation that the State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, would ensure that the matter is not swept under the carpet, as it was before.

“Killing for any God in the name of blasphemy is ungodly, satanic, foolish, reprehensible and totally unacceptable. This is not a Stone Age and Nigeria is not a Banana Republic. Nigeria remains a non-religious State where no religion is supreme to the other," the statement unequivocally emphasized.

“We acknowledge and commend the restraint of the Christian students of the College who refused to embrace self-help and reprisal attacks on those who murdered their colleague. It is our prayers that those vampires in religious garments will not push the country to a religious war. This is why both the government and the security agencies must stop treating them with kid gloves. Enough is enough,” the statement conveyed.