What Led To Deborah’s Death? The True Story Of Deborah Yakubu, A Young Girl Who Was Murdered In Sokoto

Northern Nigeria is synonymous with Muslim religion. One of the regions even has a religious police force.

Blasphemy is one of the most energizing concerns in northern Nigeria, and even the tiniest hint of an insult to Islam can elicit riots and lynchings.

Have you seen the latest? Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a second-year student at the Shehu Shagari College of Education, was lynched on campus by a mob of other students after being accused of blasphemy.

The young girl was beaten and stoned to death before they set her body on fire on Thursday, May 12 at about 9 a.m.

What Led To Deborah’s Death?

Deborah Samuel Yakubu was a Christian who lived and had her education in the extreme northwest of Nigeria.

It all began one day with a discussion on a public WhatsApp group designed for her course mates about an upcoming examination.

One of the students asked her how she passed the last semester’s examination, and in response, she said it was “Jesus o.”

After she said that, two Muslims entered the conversation.

The two Muslim women, who are also her course mates, drop three messages on the group and one Christian, telling her to retract the statement “Jesus o”. 

Two students from other departments who overheard some Muslim boys discussing the matter told Deborah’s close friends to prevail on her to retract the statement. 

But she replied via a voice note on the WhatsApp group

• “Holy Ghost fire. Nothing will happen to me.
• Is it by force that you guys will always be sending this religious stuff in this group?
• The group wasn’t created for that but rather as a notice on test, assignment, exam, etc, not this nonsense religious posts”

You can listen to the voicenote here.

According to Deborah Yakubu’s classmates who narrated the story, she said that because she didn’t retract her statement, some of the Muslim students went out to bring in some hoodlums.

• “We were made to understand that some young men were brought from outside before the outrage.
• I was in class when some of our course mates rushed in, saying ‘there is fire on the mountain o’.
• “The Muslim students led the strangers to the class to look for her. In fear, those in the class tried to help her escape and took her to the security post from where they hoped to create a way for her to run outside Already, a cab was waiting outside to drive her straight to the police station.
• Unfortunately, the mob overpowered everyone who tried to save her.”
• “They even threatened to kill anyone who attempted to stand in their way.”
• Her last word as she pleaded for mercy
• She was dragged out, flogged and stoned. The last word in her mouth was ‘what do you hope to achieve with this?’ By then some of our coursemates were making calls to some of our lecturers to save the situation.
• At a point, all the Christian students fled the school premises.
• It was when I got home that I heard she was set ablaze. Since the incident, I have been having a flash of her pleading expression. She pleaded for mercy and called out for help but it was far from her. What a cruel way to die.” She said.”

Source: Remi Hassan