Alleged Blasphemy: Police arrest two over lynching of Sokoto college student

The Sokoto State Police Command said it has arrested two suspects in connection with the lynching of Deborah Samuel, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education who was lynched by a mob on Thursday.

Ms Samuel was said to be 200 level student of the Department of Early Childhood Education in the college.

The victim was accused of blasphemy against Muhammad, a Muslim prophet, in a voice note she sent on her class WhatsApp group.

A statement by Sanusi Abubakar, the police public relations officer in the state, said other suspects caught in the viral video on Twitter “will soon be nailed too.”

Mr Abubakar said the students had “forcefully removed the victim from the security room where she was hidden by the school authorities, killed her and burnt the building.”

He said the school had been closed down and men of the force deployed to provide security at the school premises.

He added that the state commissioner of police, Kamaldeen Okunlola, appealed to residents to maintain peace and go about their lawful activities. He said the situation is under control.

The statement read in parts: “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 statement added the other suspects as exposed by the video clip of the incident in circulation will be apprehended.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.