‘Mob killing is archaic’ — MURIC condemns gruesome murder of Sokoto female student

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has condemned the killing of Deborah Emmanuel, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto state.

Deborah was attacked by a mob and set ablaze over comments purportedly considered to be an insult to Prophet Mohammed.

A video of the student being stoned and beaten with sticks was shared on social media on Thursday.

The incident has sparked outrage with many Nigerians calling for justice.

Reacting to the development, MURIC, in a statement signed by Ishaq Akintola, its director, said the Quran and Prophet Mohammed condemned violence, adding that the “aggrieved students” should have reported to the police and Hisbah.

“MURIC strongly condemns this killing and all others that have been happening in Nigeria in recent times. Those aggrieved by the student’s post should have reported her to the security agencies or to the Shariah police, the hisbah. Mob killing is archaic and bohemian. It belongs to the Stone Age. Nobody has the right to take the law into his hands,” the statement reads.

“The Glorious Qur’an compares the killing of a single person to the killing of the whole of humanity just as it compares the saving of a life to the rescue of all homo sapiens (Qur’an 5:32) In like manner, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself condemned all acts of violence and advocated peaceful conduct at all times.

“But this incident should not be condemned in isolation. The recent trend whereby Nigerians now freely shed their brothers blood should be condemned by all patriots. In this regard, we also strongly denounce the killing of several northern Muslims in the south-east in the past few months.

“We frown at the recent burning last week of a truck fully loaded with cows in the south-east as well as the killing of many Muslims of south-east origin by their Igbo brothers in the same south-east. We note with keen interest that Muslims in the morth did not retaliate when these killings were taking place.

“MURIC calls on the Sokoto police command to do everything within its power to get to the bottom of yesterday’s killing of the female student over alleged blasphemy.

“We appeal to members of the public to remain calm and law abiding. Nigerians should allow the police to carry out its investigations on the case. The Sokoto police command has started well as it already has two suspects in detention for the killing.”