Blasphemy: Controversy surrounds Deborah’s’s burial in Niger

The burial of Deborah Samuel, a female student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto who was murdered by extremists for supposed blasphemy, has sparked outrage in her community.

Deborah, who was stoned to death and burned by her classmates for reportedly making a blasphemous statement in a WhatsApp group, has sparked debate in her community about whether or not she should be buried.

Her remains, which were supposed to be laid to rest at her hometown of Tungan Magajiya in Niger State’s Rijau Local Government Area on Saturday, were hijacked by her community’s youth, who demanded that the body be returned to Sokoto and properly given to her family.

While her family wants her buried, the ECWA Church leadership and youth want the body returned to Sokoto state.

In a telephone interview with our correspondent, the deceased uncle, Emmanuel Maji, a pastor with ECWA in Tungan Magajiya, said the deceased uncle’s father received a call on Friday to come and take Deborah’s body for burial.

Maji further stated that the deceased father went on Friday and returned on Saturday am with her remains.

According to the uncle, when the church leadership learned about the invitation to pick up the body, they attempted to prohibit it from being moved without first consulting the government of Sokoto State or the State Police command.

“Our leaders said that they do not agree that she should be brought back just like that without being accompanied by government officials or officials from the school.

“Since Deborah was killed in school by her fellow students, we feel that she has become government property and should be treated as such.”

He went on to say that the dead girl’s father was in the planned commercial vehicle returning with the body when the driver was summoned and told not to take any calls.

According to Maji, the driver then turned off his phone following the call. He further stated that the deceased father and family members were unable to determine who arranged for Deborah’s remains to be transported back to Minna.

“When the driver got to the compound, we tried to ask him questions, he just threw the corpse down and drove off which angered the youth who almost started protesting until they were pacified.”

The ECWA leadership demanded that the body be deposited in the mortuary while they sought help from the Sokoto State government, but the father and others insisted on burying the daughter.

“While the church was trying to ensure that the right thing is done, the family felt that we were being unfair to them by asking them to deposit the remains in the mortuary.

“They said after such a great loss, we still don’t want them to bury her bones.”.

Maji mentioned that Deborah’s mother has been down since they heard the news while the father was unable to speak at the time of the call.

Another uncle of the deceased who was contacted simply said “I can’t speak to journalists at the moment as we are preparing for the burial.”

Tungan Magajiya’s youth then seized the body and placed it in the mortuary.