Afenifere, the pan Yoruba socio-political organization, has decried the killing of a female student, Deborah Samuel of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Sokoto State.
Samuel was killed by her school colleagues on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, for alleged blasphemy, she was stoned to death and subsequently burnt to death.
Reacting to the development, the group described the killing as “the unprovoked and unwarranted killing of a female student”.
The National Publicity Secretary of the group, Jare Ajayi, in a statement lamented that actions bordering on religious intolerance in the North have become entrenched and pervasive leading to the loss of lives and properties.
The statement opined that the action is happening often and again in the region because of the failure of the state to take drastic actions against the perpetrators of such acts.
The statement said Deborah’s tragedy must be used as a cue to put a permanent stop to faith-induced murders in our land.
It hailed the efforts of Governor Aminu Tambuwal for terminating his presidential ambition meeting in Abuja and rushing to Sokoto to attend to the incident.
The group enjoined authorities to go beyond platitudes by ensuring that all the perpetrators of the evil act are brought to book.
It also appealed to authorities to immediately take measures to prevent a reoccurrence of such incidents in their midst.
The group further explained that no one can fight for God, advising that the best thing to do is to preach, evangelize and spread the gospel and not to coerce or kill for the purpose of forcing others to embrace one’s own religion.
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