Tobias Sylvester
Sokoto State Police Command has arrested two suspects involved in the killing of Deborah Samuel, a Christian female student at Shehu Shagari College of Education.
KanyiDaily had reported how Deborah was beaten and burnt to death by her Muslim colleagues over alleged blasphemous remarks considered to be an insult to Prophet Mohammed.
A source said trouble started on Thursday morning when the late Christian student was asked by her colleagues how she managed to pass her exams.
Deborah was said to have attributed her academic excellence to Jesus and this angered her colleagues who asked her to withdraw her statement — to which she refused.
The source said the mob attacked her and then set her body ablaze after overpowering the school security personnel who tried to intervene in the matter.
A gory image and video clip of the incident sparked outrage on social media with many Nigerians calling on authorities to immediately bring the killers to book.
Police Arrest Deborah Samuel’s Killers
In a statement on Thursday evening, the spokesman of the Sokoto police command, Sanusi Abubakar said two suspects have been arrested in connection to Deborah’s death, adding that operatives have been deployed to the area.
The statement reads, “At about 0900hrs, a distress call was received from Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, stating that students were rioting over one female student named Deborah Samuel, a level two student, who was accused of making a social media post that blasphemed the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW).
“Students forcefully removed the victim from the security room where she was hidden by the school authorities, killed her and burnt the building. The students banded together with miscreants and barricaded the Sokoto/Jega road.
“Upon receiving the information, the DC Operations led a team of policemen and all other operational commanders in the state to the school where the road was cleared and the situation was brought under control.
“Two students were arrested in connection with the crime committed. The school has been closed down by the school authority, and policemen were deployed to give tight security coverage.
“The Commissioner of Police, Sokoto State Command, CP Kamaldeen Kola Okunlola fdc, mnim, is appealing to members of the public to go about their lawful activities and should not panic as the situation is under control.
“Meanwhile, the suspects in the viral video on Twitter were spotted and will be nailed soon.”
Meanwhile, Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar is currently under heavy backlash on social media after he denied approving a post where he condemned the killing of Deborah Samuel by Islamic fanatics over blasphemy.
