36 Hours After Deborah’s Callous Murder, Buhari Finally Says Something

By Gideon Njoku

The Nation had waited for President Muhammadu Buhari to speak to, especially, his aggrieved and agitated and shell-shocked citizens. The bereaved family had waited for a word of consolation from their President. They had waited for a strong condemnation of the brutal murder of their daughter, Deborah Samuel, a Christian second year student of Home Economics of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto by their President.

They had waited for a marching order from him to Security Agents to arrest the perpetrators. Afterall, President Buhari should be the Nation’s Chief Consoler, the Chief Comforter in times of grief and agony and confusion and sorrow.

None of these came, at least, not when it was expected. They came many hours after the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catrine Leign,  had condemned  the gruesome murder of Deborah and urges the Nigeria Police to go after the perpetrators of the act which has soiled Nigeria’s image before the civilised World.

Deborah was, on Thursday, May 12, stoned and clubbed to near death, then set ablaze by her student-colleagues for, allegedly, speaking in an unflattering manner of the Holy Prophet Mohammed.

It was considered blasphemous. They videod her killing, jubilating, and posted the gory scenes on the Social Media.

She was said to have condemned the postings of Religion-related issues on the Class WhatsApp Platform instead of what it was created for – information on tests, lectures, examinations, etc.  Some Muslim students found that offensive and blasphemous, especially, as she had allegedly, proclaimed “Holy Ghost Fire.”  But there was another angle to it.

One Azzaman Azzaman in a post said Deborah Was framed and murdered for refusing to date a Muslim colleague of hers. Whatever, Deborah’s murder was greeted by anger snd outrage across Nigeria. But it was also justified by Muslim fundamentalists.

With no word from their President, many Nigerians worried, not knowing exactly what to believe. But 36 hours later, President Buhari reacted in series of Tweets.

While he condemned Deborah’s brutal murder, the President reminded Religious and Community leaders to ask their citizens to be more responsible while exercising their freedom of speech.

Some analysts have interpreted that to mean a mild rebuke by the President  of Deborah for being reckless in her remarks to her colleagues on the content of their Class WhatsApp Platform.

A Press Release from the State House said:

“President @MBuhari strongly condemns the resort to self-help by the mob in sokoto, resulting in violence, destruction and killing of a second year student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Deborah Samuel following an allegation that she had blasphemed Muhammad (SAW), the Prophet of Islam on Thursday.

“President Buhari said the news of the killing of the young lady by fellow students was a matter of concern and demanded an impartial, extensive probe into all that happened before and during the incident.

“The President noted that Muslims all over the world demand respect for the Holy Prophets, incl Isah (Alaihissalaam, Jesus Christ) & Muhammad (SAW) but where transgressions occur, as alleged to be the case in this instance, the law does not allow anyone take matters into their hands.

“Moreover, religious leaders preach that it is not for the believer to judge the actions0 of another person. The constituted authority must be allowed to deal with such matters when they arise.

“No person has the right to take the law in his or her own hands in this country. Violence has and never will solve any problem,” said the President.

“Buhari also directed the Ministries of Information and Culture, Police Affairs and that of Communications and Digital Economy to work with GSM providers and Tech companies to help contain the spread of false and inflammatory information through social media.

“The President extended the nation’s condolences to the family of the deceased student and wished all those injured a quick recovery. He commended the immediate response to the incident by the Sokoto State Government and urged religious and community leaders to call citizens’ attention to the need to exercise the right to freedom of speech responsibly.

“President Buhari called for tempered comments by the media and calm among the general population while investigation is ongoing to find out the remote and immediate causes of the incident.”

Aside from former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, no other Presidential aspirant has condemned the murder. The Sokoto State Police Command said the Command has arrested two students in connection with the murder.