Northern Christian Elders Forum has condemned the killing of Deborah Samuel, a 200-level Christian student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, by a mob for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.
The group in a statement released by its Chairman Ejoga Inalegwu on Friday May 13, demanded for the arrest and prosecution of killers of the Christian student.
NOSCEF described the killing as “murder in the robe of religion”, adding that “this should not be the usual rhetoric of condemnations and then the case is swept under the carpet with publicised arrests, no prosecution or jaundiced prosecution and letting off the hook, when the outcries die down.”
The statement read;
“The death of Debora Yakubu (Samuel) is one too many by mobs wearing a cloak of religion in the North. In a country where there is a law, nobody, group or individuals has a right to take another’s life whatsoever, outside the due process of law.
“We also urge the government to make a public example and make a new statement by quickly bringing the perpetrators to book.
“This will (should) not be the usual rhetoric of condemnations and then the case is swept under the carpet with publicised arrests, no prosecution or jaundiced prosecution and letting off the hook, when the outcries die down.
“One day it is the videoed execution of Christians in the North because of a said killing of a terrorist in Syria, and next what should have been an internal WhatsApp class platform chat results in mob action murder, wearing the robe of religion in our dear North.
“NOSCEF commiserates with the family of Deborah Yakubu (Samuel) in their period of grief and this avoidable pain, and urge Nigerians to rally round them to comfort and lessen their grief.”
