Remembering Deborah Samuel - Chikeluba

Deborah Samuel 

It was on May 12th, 2022, that the State of Sokoto in Northern Nigeria trended nationally and internationally for the horrendous killing of Deborah Samuel, a Christian 200 level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto.

Deborah was inhumanely pursued, stoned and set ablaze by supposedly her fellow students, on the allegation that she committed blasphemy against the Islamic religion.

She had kicked against posting of religious messages on a Whatsapp group created for academic purposes. That incident culminated into her being heinously murdered in broad daylight.

Parents of Deborah 

Nigerians, especially from the Southern part of the country, heavily criticized the killing. The Sultan of Sokoto, his eminence Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, joined in criticizing the obnoxious act, as well as President Muhammadu Buhari, but then it was apparent to discerning Nigerians that the government of the day would not match words with actions in prosecuting the culprits.

Last May 12th, 2023, made it exactly one year the incident occurred, and Deborah is yet to get the justice a purportedly secular nation should have expeditiously given. It has now come to public domain, despite denials by the police force, that the earlier arraigned suspects had been set free by the magistrate court handling the case.


A copy of the Court proceedings and judgement seen online reveals that the two suspects arrested, Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunchi, were never charged for murder, but for Criminal Conspiracy and inciting public disturbance.


While the rest of the country were beguiled into thinking that a genuine and purposeful prosecution of the suspects was ongoing, records reveal that prosecuting police never showed up in Court, leading to the discharge of the suspects by the Court.


It's indeed worrisome and appalling that the sensibilities of Nigerians who yearn for justice would be insulted this way by the government of the day. 

At this point in time, one would wonder, what happened to the civil society organizations, groups and NGOs that usually stand for justice and good governance, in the face of this callousness.

This is the kind of issues , the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), must see to its judicial conclusion, for except justice is secured for Deborah, it can only be a matter of time, before another unsuspecting christian is hacked down by similar mob of religious fanatics. 

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