Garba Emmanuel, father of Deborah who was lynched in Sokoto for alleged blasphemy, has revealed that the family put everything into sending her to school.
A mob attacked and burnt Deborah alive in Shehu Shagari College of Education for reportedly describing a WhatsApp message about Prophet Muhammad as “nonsense”.
Parents of the deceased spoke with the press for the first time since the death of their daughter.
“Everything we have, we put it into the education of Deborah and today, she is dead,” Mr Emmanuel said.
“Because of Deborah’s schooling, we couldn’t send her siblings to school because we can’t afford it. If you have nothing, you can’t sponsor all your children to such schools.”
Emmanuel noted that the family decided to leave justice in the hands of God.
“As believers, we have taken this as an act of God. We will not seek for vengeance or any action. A believer resigns his fate to God,” he said.
Deborah was buried on Saturday in her hometown in Niger State.
Her father said he paid N120,000 for her body to be transported to Niger as many people he met were reluctant to convey her body.
He said the state government was yet to contact the family.
Alheri, Deborah’s mother, was hospitalised following the incident. She said she was yet to get over the shock.
