There was tension in Sokoto and its adjoining communities as restive youths went on rampage on Saturday to demand immediate release suspects arrested for alleged killing of Deborah Samuel, a 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, accused of blasphemy against Prophet Mohammad.
The youths took to the streets of the town to show their anger against keeping suspects in police detention.
They insisted that the suspects must be released unconditionally.
The protesters were carrying placards with inscriptions: “Release our Muslim brothers,” Muslims Are Not Terrorists,” among others.
Earlier in the day, leaflets, written in Hausa, were reportedly circulated on Saturday, to invite Muslims to come out en mass to protest against the arrest of the suspected killers of Deborah.
Aminu Tambuwal
Meanwhile, the Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has declared a 24-hour curfew in Sokoto metropolis.
The governor went on a state radio to announce the curfew to douse the tension as the protesters were angered by comments of Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, over the killing of the student.
Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III
On Friday, the Sultan condemned Deborah’s killing of Deborah, saying the police must bring the killers to justice.
For the protests spreading across the state over the arrests of the suspected killers of the students, some angry youths have mobilized themselves to the Sultan’s palace, saying the Sultan’s comments over the killing were anti-Islam.
Demanding immediate and unconditional release of the arrested suspects, the angry youths blocked major highways within the town.
Appealing to the people of Sokoto State to continue to observe law and order, the state governor announced the curfew, saying “by the power conferred on him by sections 176 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Sections 1 and 4 of the public Order Act and also Section 15 of Sokoto State Peace Preservation Law and as the chief security of the state he had declared with immediate effect a curfew within Sokoto metropolis for the next 24 hours.
“Everyone should, please, in the interest of peace go back home and observe this measures, with a view to re-establishing peace, law and order in the state,” he stated.
He noted that it was not in the interest of anyone to have a breakdown of law and order.
He said: “I, therefore, appeal for restraint; and, for people to observe and respect the rule of law.”
Matthew Kukah
Also, some youths protesting the arrest of the suspected killers of Deborah Samuel have reportedly attacked the Sokoto Diocese of the Catholic Church, where Matthew Kukah is Bishop.
Bishop Kukah was said to have fled to an unknown location outside the Sokoto State.
The Gazette reported that Kukah, a major critic of the Mohammadu Buhari administration, was on his way out of Sokoto when he was called on phone after the incident.
Quoting the Gazette: “The windy background on the bishop’s end of the call confirmed he was indeed on the move.”
The Gazette also reported that the police had to fire teargas to disperse protesters from breaking into the church earlier in the day but said the attackers regrouped after the police vans left the neighbourhood.
