Police in Sokoto said on Thursday that two suspects in connection with the lynching of Deborah Samuel, a female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, have been arrested.
Ms Samuel, a 200 level student of the Department of Early Childhood Education in the college, was mobbed after being accused of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad in a voice note she sent on her class WhatsApp group.
Spokesman of the police in Sokoto Sanusi Abubakar confirmed in a statement that the students “forcefully removed the victim from the security room where she was hidden by the school authorities, killed her and burnt the building.”
Abubakar added that other suspects in the viral video of the incident will soon be arrested.
The statement said: “…A distress call was received from Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, stating that students were rioting over one female student named Deborah Samuel, a level two student, who was accused of making a social media post that blasphemed the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW). students forcefully removed the victim from the security room where she was hidden by the school authorities, killed her and burnt the building.
“The students banded together with miscreants and barricaded the Sokoto/Jega road.
“Upon receiving the information, the DC Operations led a team of policemen and all other operational commanders in the state to the school where the road was cleared and the situation was brought under control. Two students were arrested in connection with the crime committed.”
The spokesperson said the school has been closed down and policemen deployed to provide security at the school premises.
He added that the state commissioner of police, Kamaldeen Okunlola, appealed to residents to maintain peace and go about their lawful activities.
