- Restates calls for prosecution of perpetrators
A year after the callous public murder of Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education by her schoolmates, rights groups, public affairs analysts and the media are still wondering why nobody has been prosecuted.
Over the weekend, a Civil Rights Advocacy Group- Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) described the killing as state-sponsored terrorism.
HURIWA said the Sokoto state government, the Nigeria Police Force, Sokoto State command and the Sokoto state Directorate of the Department of State Services were acting out a well-written conspiratorial script to allow the suspected killers of this innocent Niger State-born Christian girl killed in the broad daylight, to escape the law while expressing shock and disappointment that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has forgotten about her case; showing total unconcern about the brazen injustice meted out to her family.
However, the Nigeria Police Force has dismissed claims that persons arrested in connection with the killing of Deborah, have been released.
The Force Spokesperson, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, stated this on Saturday as Nigerians marked the one-year anniversary of the gruesome murder of the female student by Islamic extremists – an action which sparked national and global outrage.
But, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the National Coordinator of HURIWA said there was no known excuse why it had been one year after a female student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto State, Deborah (Samuel) Yakubu, was killed by some extremist Muslim students over alleged blasphemy of the Islamic religion, and yet the Nigeria Police Force had been saying that it was still on the trail of prime suspects culpable in the immolation.
HURIWA recalled that the Police Public Relations Officer, Sokoto State Police Command, Abubakar Sanusi, confirmed the development during a telephone interview with a media reporter just as the deceased, a 200-level student was set ablaze on May 12, 2022, after she reportedly advised her classmates against posting religious contents on their department’s WhatsApp group which was created for academic purposes.
The group noted that a video of Deborah being stoned, beaten with sticks and immolated by some of her Muslim colleagues, which was seen by our correspondent, was shared widely on all social media platforms. HURIWA then wondered why it is taking eternity for the so-called law enforcement agencies of the Police, the DSS, the Civil Defence, the Nigerian Customs, and the Nigerian Immigration Services, to successfully track down the killers of Deborah who did this unthinkable brutal murderous act in the daylight in full view of the relevant security institutions aforementioned whose members present at her public stoning were armed but failed to save Deborah Samuel Yakubu from the murderous crowd only because she was a Christian.
HURIWA said the Sokoto State government has deliberately delayed the prosecution of the suspects arrested and may have released them as there is no known proof that the matter is proceeding at the said Magistrate Court and yet the murderers haven’t been transferred to a state High Court that has jurisdictions over such a heinous crime of illegal and gruesome public execution of a citizen. HURIWA accused the Sokoto state government alongside all the security forces of colluding to hide this crime under the carpet of impunity but the group has vowed that nobody associated with this injustice will escape public scrutiny all their lives.
Besides, a few days after the incident, the police announced the arrest of two suspects; Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunci, in connection to Deborah’s murder, and they were arraigned on May 16, 2022, at the Sokoto Chief Magistrate Court for their alleged participation in the crime. However, a total number of 34 lawyers led by one Professor Mansur Ibrahim, allegedly sponsored by some public figures, stormed the court in defence of the suspected killers.
HURIWA recalled the PPRO, DSP Sanusi, as saying that the police were still on the trail of some of the prime suspects, adding that several arrests had been made in connection to Deborah’s death.
The Police spokesman in Sokoto had said: “We’re still on the trail of some of the prime suspects in connection with the murder. However, we have made arrest, and we’ve charged all the arrested suspects to court since then. The case is at the Chief Magistrate Court 1 in Sokoto, and the arraigned suspects were/are remanded at the Nigerian Correctional Service, Sokoto State Correctional Centre since 2022.”
HURIWA said the Sokoto State Police Command would be double speaking if they insists that they couldn’t arrest those killers who were clearly captured on the videos that became viral on the Internet. HURIWA also stayed that because the policing institution governed principally by Muslims backed the execution of Deborah otherwise the State Commissioner at the time the terrorist act of publicly stoning her to death could have been administratively sanctioned for failing to stop this brazen crime that took place in the market place with armed security operatives witnessing the crime without intervening
The deceased, a 200-level student was set ablaze on May 12, 2022, after she reportedly advised her classmates against posting religious contents on their department’s WhatsApp group, which was created for academic purposes.
Videos of Deborah being stoned, beaten with sticks and immolated by some of her Muslim colleagues, which was shared widely on all social media platforms.
At the weekend, a cleric, Reverend Father Kelvin Ugwu lamented the Federal Government’s inaction in bringing the perpetrators to justice. The, Rev. Fr. in an emotional message, lamented that after Deborah’s death, the Federal Government did little to seek justice for her.
He said: “Your body was burnt to ashes by them. Your killers made a video of the whole thing shouting Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest). I am not sure which God they are talking about.
“After your death, there was uproar. The government of your country did not do much to help; they just closed your school for a few weeks and charged some persons to court. One presidential candidate allegedly sponsored lawyers to defend your killers. They arrested some persons for what they called civil unrest. But no single person has been arrested for killing you. No one is in custody. Everyone seemed to have moved on.
“I would have said that you should rest in peace, but what is the use of peace without justice? May your killers and all those who support them never know peace.
“Dear friends, let us honour this lady today. Keep praying for the repose of her soul.”
