President Buhari Condemns Killing Of Deborah Samuel Over Alleged Blasphemy In Sokoto

By Daniel Dafe

President Muhammadu Buhari, has strongly condemned “the resort to self-help by the mob in Sokoto, resulting in violence, destruction and in the very tragic killing of Deborah Samuel, following an allegation that she had blasphemed Muhammad (SAW), the Prophet of Islam.”

In a statement by the president on Friday, he said “the news of the killing of the young lady by fellow students is a matter of great concern, and there must be an impartial and extensive probe into all that happened before and during the incident.”

“Indeed, Muslims all over the world demand respect for the Holy Prophets, including Isah (Alaihissalaam, Jesus Christ) and Muhammad (SAW), but where transgressions occur, as alleged to be the case in this instance, the law does not allow anyone to take matters into their own hands,” the statememt added.

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“Also, religious leaders preach that it is not for the believer to judge the actions of another person. The constituted authority must be allowed to deal with such matters when they arise.

“No person has the right to take the law in his or her own hands in this country. Violence has never and will never solve any problem,” the president added.

He commended the immediate response to the incident by the Sokoto State Government, while urging religious and community leaders to call the attention of citizens to the need to exercise the right to freedom of speech responsibly.

Adding: “At this time we must emphasize the news for tempered comments by the media, and calm among the general population, while investigation is ongoing to find out the remote and immediate causes of the incident.”

Meanwhile, he called on “the Ministries of Information and Culture, Police Affairs, and Communications and Digital Economy have been directed to work with GSM providers and Tech companies to help contain the spread of false and inflammatory information through social media,” just as he condoled with the family of the deceased student, Deborah Samuel.