Deborah Samuel's father, Garba Emmanuel, has described how his daughter was brutally murdered and burned in Sokoto last Thursday.

In an interview with elifeonline.net, a saddened Emmanuel characterized his 22-year-old daughter as a humble girl who wanted a great future, believed in the Lord, and did not participate in Church activities.

"She was a member of the Christian Student Association at her school and was well-known in the Church since she never missed Church activities," he said. She wasn't a thorn in anyone's side."

Despite the presence of over 100 security officers, including Police, NSDSC, and DSS operatives, Garba, who witnessed his daughter's murder, said the mob action took place.

"On Thursday morning at 9.00 a.m., she called me on her phone to report that some people were trying to kill her," he explained. I dashed from where I was to get to her school. When I arrived, there was a large crowd of these lads and females. The school administrators had brought her and another girl to the security gate near the school entrance, where they were locked up.

"I then made the decision to call the cops and report a problem at the school." The police stated that I had no authority to report what was going on in the school and that the school should have called them.

"I told them that I am a Nigerian citizen with the right to report any violation that affects me or anyone else wherever." "As a result, they assigned me two plainclothes cops." When they arrived at the school, they realized the situation was beyond their capabilities.

"They contacted the DPO, Area Command, Police Headquarters, and the DSS." The DSS arrived first and began shooting in the air to disperse the crowd, which fled in some cases.

"They tried to save her, but the security post's door was shut with a padlock, and the guy who had the key was nowhere to be seen." More police officers arrived afterwards and began firing tear gas into the crowd.

"As time went on, more mobs from neighboring areas began to gather, and the crowd grew. All the bystanders by the road, because the school is on an express road, began to troop in, and the crowd grew.

"Around 11 a.m., more police officers, Civil Defense, and DSS arrived and teargassed the entire area." They were waiting for the person who had the key rather than breaking the door down and rescuing her. The person arrived soon after, and while bringing her out, the throng grabbed her.

"As they fought the security guards, one of the mob whacked her in the head with a heavy iron rod, knocking her unconscious."

"That's when they started stoning her, beating her with rods and sticks till she died." She was assassinated in front of the entire security team.

"The mob was ecstatic that they had slain her after they had killed her." Allah Akbar, Allahu Akbar, chanted the students and residents of the villages.

"They were all ecstatic and overjoyed." 'I am the one who killed her,' 'I am the one who killed her,' 'I am the one who killed her,' 'I am the one who killed her,' 'I am the one who killed her,' 'I am the one who killed

"After about twenty to thirty minutes, a hijab-clad lady, one of her classmates, began shouting a kone ta, a kone ta, akone ta, which means'set her body ablaze, set her body ablaze.'

"They gathered tires, and one of the boys brought his machine from where they siphoned the fuel, which they poured on the tires and set flame her body."

"The school administration and police officers brought her body to the mortuary after around two hours."

"There were more than 100 police officers there," he claimed. They numbered in the hundreds. There weren't many DSS personnel present. When the police arrived in about five to seven vehicles, including the civil defense, the DSS attempted to rescue her but left it to the police. But wait till you see what occurred."

"Well, what can I say?" he remarked when questioned if the police officers did it on purpose. If they did it on purpose, I'll leave it to God, since I feel that if the police and other security services intended to save her, they could have whisked her into one of their many vehicles and driven away as soon as they shot in the air and the throng dispersed.

"They may have broken the padlock and later fixed it." They did, nonetheless, what they did. Everything is in God's hands.

"We are headquartered in Rijaw Local Government in Magajia, Niger State. I was at Sokoto when she called to say they were about to kill her, and I immediately went to the police station.

"They went on vacation during the Salah break, and school returned on Saturday, with exams beginning on Monday." On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, they were still studying for their exams, and on Thursday, they murdered her."

"No," he responded when the voice note was removed. Nobody informed her she needed to get rid of the voice note. They began making plans to kill her on Thursday morning after she recorded the recording on Wednesday evening."

When asked if he planned to relocate, he stated that despite the outcry and riot in the state following the arrest of his daughters' killers, he still feels safe in Sokoto and will not leave the state.

"I'm moving to nowhere." I'm fine here. I'm already settled here, and these folks won't be able to frighten me away.

"Some of Deborah's pals broke the news to her," he stated of how his wife learned of Deborah's death. When I returned home, I learned that when she was informed, she passed out and was brought to the Magajiya hospital. Because she had high blood pressure, she slept there.

"It's not a problem." We are at peace. Even Muslims today recognize that what they did was unethical and un-Islamic. This has been stated numerous times.

"Arab preachers also claimed that there is nowhere in the Koran that mandates they should kill anyone." Even Gumi, one of their Sheiks, claimed that Mohammed was insulted face to face when he was alive, and that he never asked anyone to deal with him.

"Would anyone argue they should kill today, after his death?" He claimed that some Mallams, or Ulama, made that decision in order to maintain control over their flocks. It is not permissible under Islamic law.

"Their law states that anyone caught in blasphemy should be sent to the Sharia courts, which will determine whether or not blasphemy was committed.

"It has been denounced by Muslims." This did not go well with the Sultan and many Muslims."

"They all know there is nothing we can do now," he stated of his other children's reactions to the situation. She is not the eldest or the only child in my family.

"They understand that there is nothing we can do now but thank and honor God because there is nothing we can do to bring her back."

Emmanuel denied that his children would never go to school again, claiming he was merely concerned about their safety at school.

"That is a fabrication. I never mentioned anything to that effect. You are unable to prevent your children from attending school as a result of this.

"I guess they misquoted our people's calls not to send their children to that school again because if you send your child to that school, you're sending your child to hell."

"Why take your children to that school if they can't keep them safe?"

He claimed that his family has no plans to take the school board to court, but that the government has the authority to do so if necessary.

"I'm not going to court because I won't be able to get her back if I do." You've been in court for three to four years. For what purpose? I will not appear in court.

"However, if the government so desires, they are free to do so." She was born and raised in Nigeria. As a deterrence to recurrence, the government can go to court and prosecute the criminal."

"The government should take care of it and punish the perpetrators so that it does not happen again."

"We believe in God and are grateful that He has brought her back to us in this manner. How many people perish and the news reaches this far? So, she is the daughter of a poor guy, yet her name has spread throughout the world. God be praised."