Insulting the Prophet Mohammed?
Lynch mob kills Christian student in Nigeria and desecrate her body
Created: 05/13/2022 15:26
Symbolic picture: street outside the Nigerian capital Abuja.
© Thomas Imo/photothek.net/imago
A horrific murder of a Christian student took place in Nigeria.
She was murdered by a lynch mob for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed.
Sokoto - A lynch mob lynched a Christian student in Nigeria and burned her body.
Dozens of Muslim students stoned the young woman in Sokoto state out of anger over an entry in a public WhatsApp group, the police said on Thursday.
Two suspects were arrested.
High spiritual authorities in the country called for calm after the incident.
Nigeria: Lynch mob "violently" took student out of security room after Whatsapp
According to police, the attackers "forcibly took student Deborah Samuel out of the security room where she had been hidden by school authorities, killed her and set fire to the building."
The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar, the supreme spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslim community, and the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Hassan Kukah, called for calm.
Nigeria: Christian and Islamic clergy condemn act
The Sultanate's Council has called on the security authorities to hold those responsible accountable, Abubakar said.
He spoke out in favor of “peaceful coexistence”.
Bishop Kukah spoke of a "deep shock".
In the federal state of Sokoto, Islamic Sharia law is applied in addition to secular law.
Dozens of students were outraged by a comment by Deborah Samuel that was shared on social media, the Sokoto police spokesman said.
Whatsapp statement by the student interpreted as an insult to the Prophet Mohammed
According to the information, the student's statement was taken as an insult to the Prophet Mohammed.
Footage circulated online showed the dead student in a pink dress lying face down between dozens of rocks.
A student, who only called himself Babangida, accused the student of posting "insulting" comments in a WhatsApp group that "everyone saw".
Video showed a crowd flogging the corpse, piling worn tires on top of the corpse and shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).
The police arrested two suspects and launched a search for everyone who can be seen on the video.
The authorities ordered the school to be closed to investigate the causes of the incident.
Nigeria has 215 million inhabitants.
The north is mostly Muslim, the south is mostly Christian.
Sharia law was introduced in 12 states in northern Nigeria in 2000.
Death sentences for adultery, blasphemy or homosexuality have already been pronounced on this basis.
However, there were no executions.
In Nigeria, an illegal oil depot exploded in April 2022, killing more than a hundred people.
(AfP)
