…Protests rock Sokoto
…Govt declares 24-hour curfew
Tears flowed freely yesterday as the body of the late Deborah Yakubu was buried in her Niger home state.
It was a moment of anguish and grief as parents and well-wishers wept uncontrollably as her remains were committed to mother earth in Tunga Magajiya in Rijau Local Government Area of Niger state.
Sunday Sun gathered that Deborah’s mother had been in a coma since Thursday when she heard the news of the sudden death of her daughters. Confusion enveloped the town when her body arrived in the town at 2:00 pm.
There was a little disagreement before her body was laid to rest as the youth in the community insisted that the burial should be the responsibility of the Sokoto state government, while the family maintained that their daughter should be buried without the government’s interference.
After the drama, the body of the late Deborah was eventually laid to rest at about 6.30 pm at the Christian Cemetary in Tunga Magajiya. Her Uncle, who is the Pastor of ECWA in Tunga Magajiya, Emmanuel Maaji, led the prayers at the cemetery with an outflow of emotion before her remains were lowered into mother earth.
Yesterday, some Muslim youths took to major roads in the Sokoto demanding the release of suspects arrested following the killing of Deborah Yakubu, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, over alleged blasphemy.
This is coming on the heels of condemnation issued by the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, insisting that the stoning and killing of Deborah were unacceptable.
Similarly, Igbo youths under the aegis of the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) have also called for the arrest of the culprits involved in the killing of the poor lady, and subsequent attack on Christians in Sokoto State by angry Islamic bigots.
Some protesters had stormed the Sultan of Sokoto’s palace before they were dispersed by security operatives.
They, however, moved to other parts of the city where churches and shops of none indigenes were located.
It took the frantic efforts of security teams to disperse another group of protesters, which had started burning tyres in front of the Cathedral Church of Catholic Diocese as well as ECWA Church located along Bello Way.
In a bid to save the situation, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has declared a 24-hour curfew in Sokoto as part of measures to maintain law and order in the state.
“By the powers conferred on me by sections 176(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and section 1 and 4 of the Public Order Act, and, also Section 15 of Sokoto State Peace Preservation Law, I hereby declare, with immediate effect, a curfew within (Sokoto) metropolis for the next 24 hours,” Tambuwal stated.
Archbishop Martins had charged the law enforcement agencies to quickly swing into action to investigate the circumstance leading to Debora’s murder, identify the culprits and bring them to justice according to the Nigerian criminal law, describing the act as “appalling, provocative, and inhuman.”
He warned that such acts, if not checked forthwith, were capable of further exacerbating religious tension, thereby causing disaffection amongst the peace-loving people of Nigeria.
In a release signed by the Director of Social Communications, Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, the archbishop, condoled with the family of the deceased student and the good people of Sokoto State, and indeed all Nigerians of goodwill. He also prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased whose life was cut short in her prime.
“I feel very saddened by the callous manner Deborah Yakubu’s life was cut short in her prime by a bloodthirsty jungle justice mob. It shows how little the value some people place on human life,” he said.
