The tragic and unfortunate murder of Deborah Samuel, once again, highlights the fault lines in our religious, ethnic and cultural profile that seeks to continuously endanger our existence as a nation.
The incident, which many believed, was that the victim did nothing wrong. Feelers from people who were in the environment she was killed also indicated that Deborah only reminded her colleagues who ordinarily turn their platform to something else, that the Whatsapp platform was meant for information like, “past questions,” when and if, there is a test or an assignment.
This should have ordinarily been taken as a welcome reminder for those who were truly in school to learn. But other fastidious individuals were reported to have remarked that: her voice note ended with a phrase; ‘Which prophet?’
This was the phrase that presumably set in motion a chain of reactions that led to her death, the burning down of the building in which she was hiding, opprobrium on the school, another tar on religious extremists and subsequently a bad name for Nigeria!
By staying aloof and declining to condemn the murder of Deborah, these politicians have displayed sheer lack of kindness, consideration and concern for the weak and the vulnerable in our midst
It is worthy of note that no prophet’s name was in the said voice-note. But being a Christian in a presumably Muslim-dominated environment, it was assumed that the phrase was a reference to Prophet Muhammed (PUBH).
Hence, some people felt she must be killed for asking such a question adjudged to be blasphemous.
According to the perpetrators of this ungodly act, Deborah blasphemed their prophet and was therefore worthy of death. Even some supposedly learned or rather enlightened members of the concerned community have voiced their support for the gruesome murder of the young lady.
For instance, one of the presidential aspirants hurriedly deleted a tweet he had sent out condemning Deborah Samuel’s killing. He also quickly took down the post following harsh criticisms from his fellow Muslims who rebuked him for reprimanding the killers.
In his explanation for the action, he claimed that the tweet was sent out by his media aide without his approval. ‘’I must approve all tweets before they are sent out,’’ he claimed.
A media firm owned by another aspirant, probably in order to repaint the picture of what transpired in Sokoto and save their boss the trouble for sticking out his neck for or against the incident, aired a phantom video that portrayed that Deborah was killed in an ASUU protest!
In a way, Nigerians have come to know the true character of those aspiring to lead them next year.
By staying aloof and declining to condemn the murder of Deborah, these politicians have displayed a sheer lack of kindness, consideration and concern for the weak and the vulnerable in our midst.
They lack the courage to stand up for truth and condemn the dastardly act, even though it must be said here that Muslim clerics and scholars have come out to state that Islam does not authorise lynching, no matter the provocation.
According to them, for an offence of blasphemy, the suspect would have to be arrested, put on trial and convicted before appropriate punishment is apportioned. Clearly, the killers of Deborah did not bother to go through with these protocols.
We commend the Sultan of Sokoto for his leadership in this time of crisis. By quickly condemning the barbaric act and calling for the arrest of the criminals, he has shown that he is indeed a spiritual father of high moral fibre and sterling repute.
We strongly advocate that there should be tolerance and mutual respect for one another, irrespective of our religion and ethnic group. For no single religion or ethnic group can claim to be superior to others.
Read also: Deborah Samuel and the burden of leadership
Besides, for orderliness in our society, there are rules and laws that govern everyone’s disposition and actions. The Nigerian Constitution does not permit anyone to take the life of his or her neighbour.
Section 315 of the Nigerian Criminal Code states, “Any person who unlawfully kills another, is guilty of an offence which is called murder or manslaughter, according to the circumstances of the case.”
Section 306 of the Nigerian Criminal Code makes it explicitly clear that it is unlawful to kill any person unless such killing is authorised or justified or excused by law.
Consequent to the above, nobody is permitted to take another person’s life no matter the offence except through a justified means, which is that the law enforcement agency must be involved to determine if the offence deserves death.
We condemn religious extremism in its totality. Religious and/or cultural beliefs system should be tailored to heal and not to kill. If we all embrace the act of killing those who did not agree with our belief systems, who then, would we convert?
Those behind the killing of Deborah Samuel should therefore be brought to book. Otherwise, we will be saying goodbye indirectly to what remains of the Nigerian nation.
Rwanda is a good example to us in Africa of what a nation should be. It is time we jettisoned the attitude of superiority and hatred for other religions and ethnic groups. We wish to state here with conviction that inclusiveness should be the watchword in a diverse polity like ours.
