Nigeria religious leaders urge justice after blasphemy killing

Nigerian religious leaders have demanded justice for the killing of a Christian student accused of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad, who was stoned to death.

Deborah Samuel was stoned and her body was burned by an angry mob of students in the northwest city of Sokoto on Thursday after she published a social media post they found insulting to the Prophet.

Police arrested two suspects in connection with the killing while a manhunt was ordered for others who appeared in a video of the incident that circulated on social media.

Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, the highest spiritual figure among Nigerian Muslims, and the influential Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Hassan Kukah, appealed for justice and calm Thursday after the killing.

“The Sultanate Council condemned the incident in its totality and has urged the security agencies to bring perpetrators of the unjustifiable incident to justice,” Abubakar said in a statement.

The Sultan, who also heads the Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC) for interfaith harmony, called on “all to remain calm and ensure peaceful coexistence” in the country.

Catholic Bishop Kukah condemned the murder, describing it as a “tragedy” and a “deep shock”.

“We… call on the authorities to investigate this tragedy and ensure that all the culprits are brought to book,” he said.

Nigeria’s 210 million population is roughly divided between Muslims and Christians but religious tensions and deadly crashes are not uncommon, particularly in the north.

Blasphemy, especially against the Prophet, attracts death penalty in a dozen northern Nigerian states where sharia law is enforced alongside common law.

Two Muslims were separately sentenced to death in 2015 and 2020 by sharia courts for blasphemy against the Prophet. Their cases are still being appealed.

Accused people are often killed by crowds without going through the court system.

A mob in Darazo area, Bauchi state’s northern region, burned a man suspected of disrespecting the Prophet last year.