Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, has strongly denounced the assassination of Ms Deborah Nelson, a female student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, by her classmates for supposed blasphemy, condemning the crime as unjustified, unwarranted, and brutal.
Deborah Nelson, a Level Two student, was pulled out of the college's guard post where she was hiding from her attackers, stoned to death, and her car set on fire in a barbaric manner, according to the report.
ASP Sanusi Abubakar, a spokesman for the Police Command, verified the report, adding that irate students "forcefully pulled the victim (Deborah Samuel) from the secure room where she had been hidden by the school authorities, killed her, and fled the scene."
According to reports, the late student warned those who posted "useless information" on a Whatsapp Group platform created primarily to share information about their studies, as she was said to have asked the sender, in a voice note shared by her peers, to send important information, stating that "this group was not created for you to send useless information."
According to the aforesaid claims, the victim did nothing wrong in telling her peers that the Whatsapp platform was meant for information like "previous questions if there is a test or an assignment," according to Afenifere's National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi.
"It was stated that her voice note concluded with a sentence 'Which prophet?'" the pan-Yoruba group said, adding that this should be viewed as a welcome reminder for those who were actually in school to study.
"In most cases, this should serve as a helpful reminder to those who are actually in school to learn. Her voice note was supposed to end with the phrase 'Where prophet?' - a sentence that allegedly set in motion a chain of events that culminated in her death, the burning down of the building in which she was hiding, condemnation of the school, more attention on religion zealots, and a bad name for Nigeria!
"It's worth noting that no prophet's name appeared in her voice note. However, because he was a Christian in a presumably Muslim-dominated milieu, the statement was assumed to relate to Prophet Muhammed (s.a.w).
"In this perspective, her reminder of the platform's purpose should earn her respect rather than an attack that cost her her life in a most diabolical and animalistic manner." This demonstrates the type of youth being nurtured today, as well as the type of education youths in many of our educational institutions are receiving," Afenifere said.
"Assuming she didn't genuinely blaspheme the Prophet (which we don't believe she did), putting an end to her life was not the appropriate punishment. "Chapter 5 verse 151 of the Holy Quran expressly prohibits the taking of another person's life unless proper legal procedures have been followed. In response to the claim that Deborah was killed because she was a Christian, the Quran explicitly declares in Chapter 2 verse 256 that no one should be forced to accept Islam (or any other religion for that matter).
"Specifically, it states: 'There is no compulsion in religion, the right route is clearly distinguishable from the incorrect,' acknowledging that faith is a personal problem between the individual and his or her creator.