Amnesty decries non prosecution of Deborah’s killers two years after
AMNESTY International has decried the failure of the Nigerian government to hold to account, killers of Deborah Samuel Yakubu.
Yakubu, a second- year student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, was stoned to death on May 12, 2022, by some Muslim students, who accused her of blasphemy against Islam. The suspects arrested were charged with Criminal conspiracy and incitement of public disturbance, bailable offences with a maximum of two year jail time.
A team of 34 lawyers led by Prof. Mansur Ibrahim defended the suspects who were subsequently acquitted by the court on the ground that prosecution lawyers were not showing up.
The deceased was lynched over alleged blasphemy by her school mates.
Amnesty International, which took to X yesterday, said that despite the fact that the killers of Deborah Samuel Yakubu did not hide their faces in camera while committing the heinous crime, yet the State finds it difficult to bring them to justice after two years since the incident happened.
Describing the latent behaviour of the government on violent crimes, the global rights organisation, stated that the consistent failure of the Nigerian government to tackle violence in the name of religion has effectively sent the message that anyone could commit murder and get away with it. It wrote: “# Deborah Samuel was lynched by her school mates over alleged # blasphemy on 12 May 2022 in # Sokoto. More than a year after, the Nigerian authorities have failed to hold her killers to account. “In a flagrant show of utter disdain for the sanctity of life and impunity, a video footage of a raging fire and a man facing the camera, bragging that he killed and burnt Deborah Samuel while also brandishing a matchbox was widely shared on social media”