Ogebe demands prosecution to deter Muslims from killing Christians
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Emmanuel Ogebe, human rights advocate based in the United States, has joined the clamour for the prosecution of the murderers of Deborah Samuel, a Christian student at Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto over alleged blasphemy against Prophet Mohammed.
Ogebe said “it is highly traumatising indeed for all of us who have seen this replay ad nauseam to learn of the brutal lynching and burning” of Samuel, a 200 level student and Sisters Coordinator for the Fellowship of Christian Students over a WhatsApp chat.
Before her, Bridget Agbahime, the wife of a pastor, was lynched in Kano simply for asking a Muslim man not to perform his ablution in front of her market stall (a purely hygienic matter) on 2 June 2016.
Eunice Elisha, an evangelist and mother of seven, was lynched in Abuja for preaching in July 2016.
“Both high profile cases occurred under (the administration of Muhammadu Buhari), the killers confessed, but they were never prosecuted. You can only imagine the trauma their families feel about these unrequited murders.
“In Nigeria, we have no Christians in prison for blasphemy. We have Eunices, Bridgets, Akalukas, and now Deborahs – instantly martyred without due process and no chance for appeal.
“Today, even Muslim and former Muslim ‘blasphemers/apostates’ are tried in court, and sent to prison – not killed. No Christian is in prison for this. They seldom ever make it that far,” said Ogebe, who is Special Counsel, Justice for Jos Project (USA).
“Because of technological advances, we have the killers on camera. They recorded themselves (https://fb.watch/cZ0C6rqPwE/). They must be brought to book as demanded by the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar.
“It is a disgrace that Sokoto which is one of only two states that did not produce any students this year for WASCE, is killing students. It appears Boko Haram has won these two states. If they won’t improve themselves, they should not kill those who wish to.”
Ogebe urged Nigerian electorate and delegates not to vote for politicians from Sokoto for any national office if they cannot act to hold accountable Nigerian citizens killed in their state.
“Indeed officials of a state that cannot produce WASC candidates are failures and cannot produce impact in a federal position.”
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Related articles:
UK and US activists seek ICC action on Nigeria’s terror killings
UPDATED: Classmates stone female student to death in Sokoto over alleged blasphemy
Sokoto killing: Old tweet of Buhari’s aide endorsing death to blasphemers surfaces
Atiku, Kukah, Sultan demand arrest, prosecution of Sokoto killer mob
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List of historical lynchings in the North
Below is a list compiled by Ogebe of some of those killed by Muslim mobs in Northern Nigeria in the past three decades:
1995
A group of Muslims broke into a police station and dragged Gideon Akaluka out of his cell and beheaded him for alleged blasphemy.
14 July 1999
A Muslim mob beheaded Abdullahi Umaru in Randali village in Kebbi. The murderers accused him of blasphemy against Mohammed.
2006
Florence Chukwu, a school teacher in Bauchi, was killed with other 20 Christians in the city because she told a student to stop reading the Quran in class while she was teaching English language.
21 March 2007
Muslim students and neighbourhood extremists lynched Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin, a mother of two and teacher at Government Secondary School of Gandu in the city of Gombe.
A student complained that Oluwasesin, a Christian, had touched a bag which allegedly contained a Quran, and thereby defiled the Quran.
28 September 2007
Rioting Muslims in Tudun Wada in Kano killed nine Christians, burned several churches, and destroyed the homes and businesses of non-Muslims.
They complained that Christian students drew a picture of Mohammed. But the Christians said violence erupted after they prevented one of their members from converting to Islam.
October 2007
A Sharia court convicted Sani Kabili, a Christian and father of six in Kano, of blasphemy against Mohammed. The court sentenced him to three years in prison.
An Appeal court overturned the conviction in February 2009.
9 August 2008
Muslims in Kano beat to death a 50-year-old Muslim man who allegedly blasphemed Mohammed.
4 February 2008
A Muslim mob besieged a police station and set it on fire in Yano in Bauchi. The police station was the refuge of a Christian woman whom the mob accused of desecrating the Quran.
One report said she had spurned a marriage proposal from a Muslim man and that he and his companions seized the opportunity to riot.
2016
Bridget Agbahime, 74, was beheaded in Kano for telling a Muslim not to do ablution in front of her rented shop.
2016
Eunice Olawale, an evangelist in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), was lynched by a group of Muslims in Abuja for preaching the Gospel.
Many non-Muslims have been killed in many Islamic riots in the core North.
No one is safe in the region where blasphemy is placed above common sense, freethought, and logical reasoning.