A female student in northern Nigeria was killed by a mob who stoned, beat and set fire to her for allegedly posting a blasphemous statement against the Prophet Mohammed, according to police.
Highlights
- Deborah Yakubu was surrounded by fellow students and attacked on Thursday, police say.
- The incident happened at the Shehu Shagari school in Sokoto, northern Nigeria.
- Two people have been arrested and “the suspects in the viral video on Twitter were spotted and will be nailed soon,” police spokesperson Sanusi Abubakar said.
- There are fears it could heighten sectarian tensions in the country, which is largely split along religious lines, with the north majority Muslim and the predominantly largely Christian.
- A lawyer who has defended those accused of blasphemy in Nigerian courts says blasphemy does not exist under Nigeria’s constitutional laws, although some northern Muslim states recognize it under Sharia law.