By James Orji
Dazed by the murder of their daughter by Islamic fundamentalists in Sokoto last week, the parents of Deborah Garba have vowed never to send their remaining children to shool. Deborah, a Christian 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto was gruesomely killed by some students of the institution who after flogging her terribly set her ablaze and left her to die in pain.
The pain of her untimely death has totally devastated the parents who said their remaining seven children will never be allowed to go to school. The deceased was the first of the eight children.
Their decision came on the heels of warning by the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN to parents to stop sending their children to study in the northern part of the country.
The Sokoto state govrnment has shut down the school while Govrnor Aminu Tambuwal has ordered a curfew in the state in order to restore calm in the troubled state.
The state police command said it has also arrested some suspects in connection with the murder of Deborah, who was accused by her killers of blaspheming Islamic Prophet Muhammad.
But, this seemed not to have been enough to assuage the grieving mother of the deseased, Alheri Emmanuel who told the Punch, “ that my children will never go to school again”.
Her husband Emmanuel Garba, also lamented the pain the family has been through since their first daughter was killed. For instance, Garba who works as a menial worker with the state government said the family was left to bear the cost of the burial without any support from the government. He paid N100, 000 to transport the deseased corps to Niger state from Sokoto where she was killed, Garba said.
The parents, however, promise not to seek legal redress for their daughter, saying they have left her killers to God to judge.
According to Garba, “I have yet to get a call or message from anyone concerning the incident. Nobody called me; I decided to go on my own. I went to the state CID (Criminal Investigation Department) office and begged them to help me get the corpse so I could bury it because leaving it there might make it decompose. Then they took me to the mortuary, did some paperwork and released the remains to me.”
“I was the one who paid to transport the remains. I was charged N120,000 which I was forced to pay because that was the cheapest I got as the majority of people don’t like transporting corpses.
“We are not seeking redress in any court over the killing of our daughter. We are firm believers in Christ who always leave everything in the hands of God. No vengeance, nothing. Everything is left to our creator.
“We don’t want anything (from the government) but it is just unfortunate that we used all our resources to send her to school and now she is dead. She was my eldest child and I have seven others left.”
Meanwhile, the Northern chapter of CAN has urged parents to stop sending their wards to study in the Sokoto and other northern states known for religious volatility.
The umbrella body of Christians in the country said this is necessary until the federal and state government are ready to secure the lives of its children both in Sokoto and other states that had been hostile to Christians and Christianity.
