{"id":627,"date":"2022-05-16T13:22:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T12:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opendoorsuk.org\/?p=627"},"modified":"2024-02-14T14:12:19","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T14:12:19","slug":"nigerian-student-killed","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/blog\/news\/latest-news\/nigerian-student-killed\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian Christian student murdered for &#8216;blasphemy&#8217; on WhatsApp"},"content":{"rendered":"    <section class=\"standard-page \" role=\"document\" style=\"\">\n        <div class=\"container\">\n            \n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On 12 May, a Christian student in Nigeria was murdered by her Muslim classmates for \u2018blasphemy\u2019, following a message in a WhatsApp group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/Deborah-780x520-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4671\" srcset=\"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/Deborah-780x520-1.jpg 780w, https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/Deborah-780x520-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/Deborah-780x520-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Deborah&#8217;s parents, who are mourning the murder of their daughter in Sokoto, Nigeria<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deborah Samuel Yakubu was delighted that she\u2019d passed her exams at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Wamako, Sokoto State in north west Nigeria. She posted a voice message in a group WhatsApp \u2013 according to Open Doors\u2019 local sources, she said, \u201cJesus Christ is the greatest. He helped me pass my exams.\u201d For this message, she was murdered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Killed for praising Jesus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deborah \u2013 a member of the Fellowship of Christian Students, a sister organisation to the Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Students \u2013 was part of a WhatsApp group created to discuss academic things relating to her Home Economics course and other courses. Some Muslim students in the group shared posts related to Islam, and Deborah was responding with her own message about Jesus. It hasn\u2019t been possible to confirm the exact wording Deborah used, as other students have refused to repeat the \u2018blasphemy\u2019 to the media. It has been suggested that she also questioned the messages others had sent, saying the thread was for academic questions about school, not \u2018nonsense\u2019 about Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n    <div class=\"pull-left-wrapper \">\n        <blockquote><p>&#8220;We condemn in the strongest terms possible this vicious act and call on authorities to take swift action&#8221;\r\n<\/p> <cite>JO NEWHOUSE, OPEN DOORS<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Muslim students took offence and threatened Deborah. College staff tried to evacuate her, but a group of angry men pulled her away and began attacking her. She was stoned to death, and then her body was burned. Footage is circulating in which a man faces the camera and says that he has killed and burned the young woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is another tragic day for northern Nigeria\u2019s Christians,\u201d says Jo Newhouse, spokesperson for Open Doors\u2019 work in sub-Saharan Africa. \u201cWe join Deborah\u2019s family and the wider Christian community in mourning her death. We condemn in the strongest terms possible this vicious act and call on authorities to take swift action to identify the perpetrators and bring them to book.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Arrests and protests<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two people have been arrested in connection with the murder, police have confirmed, and protests in Muslim-majority Sokoto have flared up in response. On Saturday 14 May, these protests turned violent. Rioters, armed with machetes, knives and sticks, and chanting Islamic prayers, demanded the release of the two suspects police arrested. Shops have been looted and burned, and there have been reports of churches being attacked and vandalised. Some of the protestors have besieged the palace of the Muhammad Sa&#8217;ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and the highest spiritual figure among Muslims in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Sultan is among the religious leaders \u2013 both Christian and Muslim \u2013 who have condemned the murder. He published a press release saying he \u2018condemned the incident in its totality and has urged the security agencies to bring perpetrators of the unjustifiable incident to justice\u2019. Sokoto\u2019s Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, meanwhile, has stated that, \u201cThe only obligation that is owed late Deborah\u2019s immediate family, her fellow students and the school authorities is the assurance that those who are guilty of the inhuman act, no matter their motivation, are punished according to the extant laws of the land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government announced a 24-hour curfew, which many disregarded. Sokoto Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal urged the protesters: \u201cPlease, in the interest of peace, go back home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Deborah\u2019s parents (pictured above) have laid her to rest in the village of Tunga Magajiya, about 160 miles south of Sokoto, where Deborah is originally from.<\/p>\n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":169,"parent":8268,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":""},"categories":[36,1],"tags":[132],"class_list":["post-627","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-open-doors-uk","tag-nigeria"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.8 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nigerian Christian student murdered for &#039;blasphemy&#039; 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