Presidential aspirant Pastor Tunde Bakare on Monday condemned the killing of Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, over alleged blasphemy.
The serving overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church said in a statement that having read the Qur’an he is convinced that it does not justify killings.
“As a nation of diverse peoples and cultures, there are available institutional mechanisms for resolving sensitive conflicts and, no matter the provocation, no person under our laws has the right to take laws into their own hands,” he said.
“As one who was a devout Muslim and who read the Qur’an from cover to cover, what was done to Deborah Samuel is nowhere justified in the religion of peace that was handed down to me by my grandfather who was the first Chief Imam of Iporo Sodeke Mosque in Abeokuta. My deep condolences go to the family of Deborah Samuel and I pray that we all find in God the comfort and fortitude to bear this great loss.”
Bakare noted that when he heard of the unrest that broke out in Sokoto after the arrest of some persons involved in the killing of Ms Samuel, he placed a call to Bishop Matthew Kukah to guarantee that he was safe and he (Bakare) was assured of that.
The clergyman described the killing of Samuel as a wake-up call for the nation to once again reflect on its common humanity and reject savagery.
