Students rioted in northern Nigeria this weekend following the arrest of two Muslims accused of the brutal lynching of a Christian university student for alleged blasphemy against Islam.
On Thursday, a mob of Muslim students at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto state stoned, beat, and burned the corpse of Deborah Yakubu, a Hausa Christian, after she asked her peers to stop posting religious content on a student-run Whatsapp messaging group.
After police arrested two Muslim students and initiated a search for other suspects who appeared in social media footage of the lynching, hundreds of students took to the streets, lighting bonfires and staging protests demanding that police release the detainees.
Students also “besieged” the palace of Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, who condemned the murder and insisted that the perpetrators of the crime face justice, Aljazeera reported.
“It was more of a riot by a mob of young men and women who were demanding the release of the two people arrested over the killing of the Christian student,” Sokoto resident Ibrahim Arkilla told Agence France Presse (AFP).
Arkilla, who witnessed the protests, said that the crowd was also “demanding the police stop the manhunt for those identified to have taken part in the killing.”
As Saturday’s protests swelled, Sokotu state Governor Aminu Tambuwal imposed a 24-hour curfew “with immediate effect” to regain order and security in the area.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari issued a May 13 statement lamenting Yakubu’s lynching, insisting that investigations into blasphemy charges must be carried out by the proper authorities.
“Muslims all over the world demand respect for the Holy Prophets, including Isah (Alaihissalaam, Jesus Christ) and Muhammad (SAW) [sic],” Buhari said in the statement.
“But where transgressions occur, as alleged to be the case in this instance, the law does not allow anyone to take matters into their hands,” he declared.
“Moreover, 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,” he said.
“No person has the right to take the law in his or her own hands in this country. Violence has and never will solve any problem,” Buhari stated.