Clarion Call for Peace, Justice in Nigeria

To register their grievance and pain over the recent murder of Deborah Samuel Yakubu in Sokoto State for alleged blasphemy, some Civil Society Organisations like Catalyst of Peace and Justice in collaboration with Charlie Boy Foundation, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, Muslim Peace Initiative, Committee for the Defence of Human Right, and Enough is Enough Nigeria recently held a protest in Lagos. Rebecca Ejifoma reports that in their clamour for justice, they also sued for peace nationwide

When on Thursday, May 12, 2022, Nigerians woke up to the gory viral video of the vicious murder of the 200-level student of Home Economics from the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Deborah Yakubu, it left most people in shock.

The young student and only daughter of the family of nine was accused of blaspheming Prophet Muhammad and thereafter lynched by irate religious fanatics right within the walls of the college.

Victims Lynched for Alleged Blasphemy 

Regrettably, Deborah is not the first victim of such a dastardly and primitive act. On June 2, 2016, 74-year-old Bridget Agbahime was ambushed by an irate mob for allegedly blaspheming the same prophet. She was the wife of Mike Agbahime, a pastor of Deeper Life Bible Church in Kano. 

Bridget was said to have asked a young man practising ablution in front her shop to move away. The man was said to have raised a false alarm that Bridget had cursed their prophet. And she was immediately stoned, dehumanised, and set ablaze in broad daylight. The only five suspects arrested in connection with this act have since been set free by the government.

In the same year, nine people were burnt alive in Zamfara State in the North-west for allegedly cussing Prophet Muhammad. And till date, no punishment in the slightest was meted out on them. 

Yet again, on March 21, 2007, Christiana Oluwasesin from Ekiti State was lynched by Yan Kalare boys and other extremists for allegedly touching the Quran at a secondary school in Gandu, Gombe State.

Oluwasesin, a mother of two, was assigned to supervise an Islamic religious knowledge exam. When one of the students wanted to enter the exam hall with his books, Oluwasesin collected them and threw them outside. The students claimed that one of the books was a copy of the Quran. This elicited emotions and immediately the popular Yan Kalare stabbed her to death. 

Demand for Justice

It was, therefore, to register their lingering grievances and call for an end to incessant killing that a group of concerned citizens took to the field in Lagos to demand for justice and an end to extrajudicial killing.

They included the Catalyst of Peace and Justice (CPJ) in collaboration with Charlie Boy Foundation, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Committee for the Defence of Human Right (CDHR), Enough is Enough Nigeria, and Muslim Peace Initiative.
Part of their demands include the immediate and unbiased prosecution of the perpetrators in the killing of Yakubu and David Imoh, as well as a decent society for everybody. Unanimously, the protesters called for a fairer, just, and better society irrespective of religion

Speaking, Convener, Catalyst for Peace and Justice (CPJ), Abraham Sam Aiyedogbon, noted, “We are coming out as a social justice initiative in collaboration with other human rights and civil society associations”.

As the Senior Pastor and General Overseer, Realm of Glory, Aiyedogbon added “let’s do it the way they say it. We just want a system that works. Does anywhere in the constitution say we should be raping women, kidnapping women. Leah Shuaibu is still in captivity. That’s one out of many”.

Bemoaning that the nation is currently in disarray with the continuous killings in the South-east, Aiyedogbon quizzed, “Is that what the constitution prescribed? Is that what the people in government promised us?”

The convener insisted that Nigerians are in desperate need of a system where basic life is possible and valued. “We need extraordinary faith, extraordinary prayer to live ordinary life. No light, no road, no school. ASUU is  on strike, they are not paying them. And people are using N100m to get form for APC, we aren’t talking about campaign money.”

Speaking at the demonstration tagged  “Deborah Yakubu: Protest against Violence and Wanton Killings”, Charles Oputa also known as Charlie Boy, reminded the nation of Matthew 22 verse 39 which says “One thing I take away from the Bible is ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’.” 

While narrating the many tales of woes, he bewailed that things have been going wrong for long while everyone looks on. “Whether we shout from now till tomorrow, these leaders will not change. Sadly, God punished us in Africa with horrible leadership”.

During the protest, Charlie Boy charged the protesters with songs of solidarity, lamentations and dirge like “When I remember Deborah water run away me eye o”, “Today, today. Our mumu don do today”, “All we are saying, give us justice” among several others. 

Amplifying his voice exuberantly before a large crowd in Okota area of the state, he queried Nigerians on what they are doing to get the kind of change they are canvassing. The entertainer, therefore, urged everyone to get his or her  Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) and get those failed leaders out. 

“How could we sit, they killed someone in Sokoto and nothing was done. In Lekki, a young man was killed in the same manner and everyone passed by. Nothing is given to you. You will go and take it. Get your PVC and vote them out. This is the time for awakening. Wake up!”

Chorusing his views, the Chairman of Muslim Peace Initiative, Abuja, Mr. Mojeed Dahiru, argued that “There should be no room for religious laws that are in contravention with the constitution of Nigeria because we are a country of laws.”

He also reminded the government of its duty to enforce law and order impartially without favour on the basis of religion and ethnicity. “This should be the core responsibility of the government”.

According to Dahiru, “there is no law that prescribes death for blasphemy in the constitution. If there is any other law anywhere that prescribes such, it has no space in the Nigerian state.

“This particular murder was done not just extra-judiciously, but in the most horrendous of ways. Deborah Yakubu was murdered and I expect justice for her by bringing the perpetrators to book and justice should be carried according to the laws of Nigeria.” 

“Anything short of this is not justice”, he cautioned, adding that ” government at all levels must ensure that justice is done in order to rest the memory of Deborah Samuel and they must prevent all forms of killings in Nigeria, especially those that are contributed by hate and intolerance”.

Describing it as a mockery to democracy, Comrade Dele Farotimi sobbed. “There are times when one is lost for speech. I was left with nothing to say for a couple of days with the immediate aftermath of Deborah’s murder. If Deborah’s killing were to be an outlier, we would probably have been left outraged. Then one would have had something to say out of anger and emotions. 

“But as it pleased the Almighty God, it was not an emotional reaction. The responses to Deborah’s murder is one that is more driven by the intellect than by emotions. She was from Kebbi State, Zuru,” he recounted. This is as he blamed not only the perpetrators for executing the crime, but also “Those in leadership who are supporting the murder as killed her.

“The Nigerian police bluntly refers to people as hooligans once they have killed such a person. The Nigerian army refers to them as terrorists once it has killed them. It appears the only way you legitimise murder in northern Nigeria is to label the person as blasphemous.

” What is the purpose of the state when the state itself becomes an enabler of crime? The blame for this lies with those who presume to rule Nigeria. And in this case it is Muhammadu Buhari. Nigeria is at war. And the reality is that lives and properties are no longer safe in the Nigerian safe”.

“Deborah’s case calls for very deep reflection”, Malachy Ugwumadu, the immediate past National President, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) said, adding that “we have come to mourn and agonise the death of Deborah Samuel. This demonstration, which is our fundamental inalienable right, will make the government know we are here. And they need to up their game”.

Measures against Killing in the Name of Blasphemy 

According to Dahiru, the country needs to begin the process of spiritual faith dialogue, adding that “government must begin to take more interest in the kind of preaching, hateful messages that are churned out in the name of religion. 

The chairman of the Muslim initiaive bemoaned that a whole generation of Nigeria has been indoctrinated that it is right to kill for God. “The government can no longer sit back and allow religious leaders to incite hate or incite people to kill in the name of God. No religion asked any human being to kill”.

And while Nigerians are wondering why the federal government is yet to launch a military  induced-resolution in the North just like the “Operation Python Dance II” and “Operation Crocodile Smile II” in 2017 and 2020 the same way it launched into the South-east, the aggrieved group laid their request. 

Unanimously, they charged the government. “At this point, the government must take a definite stand on the proliferation of religious laws in this country”, emphasising that Nigeria is a constitutional democracy and supreme law of the land, hence, no other law should be permitted. 

Quote
“A whole generation of Nigeria has been indoctrinated that it is right to kill for God…The government can no longer sit back and allow religious leaders to incite hate or incite people to kill in the name of God. No religion asked any human being to kill”

CAPTION: Cross section of protesters at the Protest against Violence and Wanton Killings held at Okota, Lagos State

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