The Sokoto State Government has been chastised for its alleged silence on the blasphemous murder of Deborah Samuel.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, wants the Sokoto State government, led by Governor Aminu Tambuwal, to expedite the administration of justice.
HURIWA has also condemned the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS), whose operatives allegedly witnessed the lynch mob action against the Christian girl from Niger State.
Deborah was a 200-level student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto until she was murdered by Islamic extremists for alleged blasphemy in mid-May 2022.
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Vexed by what appeared to be an apparent sweeping under the carpets of impunity of the heinous crime of murder and extra-legal execution by armed non-state actors, the rights group warned of the profound implications of allowing murderers to walk freely in Nigerian streets by a democratically elected Sokoto State government.
“Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s deafening silence on this despicable, primitive, irrational, vexations crime against humanity, and the deliberate lack of information to the general public on this matter, is a severe blight on the public image of the Sokoto State governor, who for many years was a senior national legislator and even became a speaker of the federal House of Representatives,” HURIWA said in a statement signed by Emmanuel Onwubiko
“Deborah Samuel was a Christian who went to seek knowledge in Sokoto, the citadel of learning, but was killed by an unruly mob in the presence of law enforcement agents over alleged blasphemy.”
“The Sokoto State governor even made a flimsy excuse for the armed security operative’s inability or unwillingness to disperse the killer mob that killed Deborah and thus watched as the young innocent Northern Christian girl was lynched to death and her remains set ablaze.”
“Her public execution will be remembered as a very dangerous incident that demonstrates that Nigeria is primitive, uncaring, and the political rulers are heartless and lawless.” Why are the killers not yet sanctioned in accordance with the law? Why was no single Police or DSS Chief punished for dereliction of duty?
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“And why the Sokoto State government’s deafening silence?” The government of Sokoto must adequately inform Nigerians of the institutional steps it has taken to punish the perpetrators, or it will be assumed that this despicable and heinous crime has the approval of the Sokoto State government in the year 2022.
“HURIWA, a non-religious organisation dedicated to the advancement of human rights, including FREEDOM OF SPEECH, RELIGION, AND ASSOCIATION, is outraged that the Sokoto State administration, led by a very senior lawyer who rose to become National publicity secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Speaker of the Nigerian Parliament, and now the governor, has not successfully prosecuted mass killers captured on video, nor is he making any effort to inform Nigerians and the World
“A Christian girl, Miss. Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College Education, Sokoto, was gruesomely murdered on the second Thursday of May 2022 for allegedly “making blasphemous statements.”
HURIWA has warned that if the Sokoto State Governor is unable to resolve this unique but disturbing case of murder as soon as possible, CSOs will definitely approach the international community to take steps to compel the governor to find the killers and bring them to justice in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
