In Nigeria, especially in the north, there have been periodic mob attacks due to alleged blasphemy.
A college in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto has been closed indefinitely after a schoolgirl was killed for alleged blasphemy.
The unidentified student has been accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad, which led to a mob that led to her death on Thursday, according to local media reports. Her body is also said to have been burned later on the school premises.
Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuval ordered the school closed and ordered the Ministry of Higher Education and relevant security services to investigate the incident. This came after outrage on social media against the murder, State Information Commissioner Isa Badgini Galadanci told reporters.
“The governor called on the people of the state to remain calm and maintain peace, as the government will take appropriate action on the results of the investigation,” Badjini said.
School officials described the incident as an “early morning riot of students” in a May 12 circular and ordered all students to “leave college immediately.”
Nigerians are using Twitter to protest the killing, calling on the government to ensure that justice is done.
“The murderers of a Christian woman in Sokoto must be arrested and punished! Farouk Kperogi, a professor of journalism at Keneso State University, tweeted.
“Unfortunately, this kind of killing of people without consequences in the name of revenge for ‘blasphemy’ has been going on in the North for too long. This must stop! The monsters in this video are easily recognizable. The Sokoto government must immediately capture them and set an example. If that doesn’t happen, this kind of murderous barbarism will continue, “he added.
The killers of a Christian woman in Sokoto must be arrested and punished! I just watched a blood-curdling video of a group of murderous, manic beasts killing and burning a Christian woman at the Shehu Shagari College in Sokoto because she allegedly blasphemes Islam.
– Farooq Kperogi (@farooqkperogi) May 12, 2022
Popular Muslim human rights activist Aisha Yesufu, who is herself a Muslim, also condemned the act, saying “no one has the right to kill anyone in any way.”
If you are one of those who lynch thieves, just take this moment to find out that you and those Sokoto students who killed your fellow student are the same. I hope you use this as a mirror in your despised actions. No one has the right to kill another anyway. Nobody!
– Aisha Yesufu (@AishaYesufu) May 12, 2022
Crowd attacks on alleged blasphemies occur periodically in Nigeria, as “many Sharia laws in northern Nigeria continue to criminalize blasphemy and lead to harsh punishments for blasphemers,” according to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The north of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is dominated by Muslims, while the south is predominantly Christian.
The country’s penal code bans any action that publicly offends any religion and provides for a sentence of up to two years in prison as long as there are Islamic laws against blasphemy by sharia courts in 12 northern states.
The latter are “extremely concerned about actions deemed offensive to Muslims, the punishment of which can be as severe as execution,” according to the Georgetown University’s Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Berkeley.
“Most accusations of blasphemy are made by Muslims against Christians and often provoke violence from the crowd before any official action is taken, such as police arrests and trials. In this way, blasphemy is primarily an engine of sectarian violence, not of legal proceedings in the Nigerian context, “said the Berkeley Center.
In April, a Nigerian court sentenced an atheist to 24 years in prison for declaring social media blasphemy against Islam. Mubarak Bala, a former Muslim, was convicted after pleading guilty after a lengthy trial during which he spent nearly two years in prison.
In 2020, a Sharia court sentenced Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, a 22-year-old Muslim gospel musician, to death for blasphemy in a series of personal WhatsApp messages.
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