Deborah Samuel: A classmate tells the tragedy of Deborah’s death.

The lynching and horrific death of Deborah Samuel was also condemned by Sheikh Sani Tukur Jangebe, the Zamfara State Commissioner for Religious Affairs and the Chief Imam of the Muslims Foundation mosque.

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The Islamic preacher, according to NewsReport, asked Muslims to follow Islam’s teachings and lessons, and claimed that despite the prophet Mohammed was subjected to innumerable insults and humiliations, he did not order the death of his enemies.

Deborah’s classmate, who wishes to remain anonymous, recalls how the males showed up at Deborah’s class to dissect her.

“Deborah was a classmate of mine. I had only just entered the classroom when her voicemail went crazy.

It was her own coursemates that started it. One of them said Deborah dared them by refusing to apologise whenever she was asked to. It all started with a debate on the upcoming examination on a general WhatsApp platform created for our course mates. One of the students asked her how she passed the last semester’s examination, and in response, she said it was “Jesus o.”

Immediately, about three other chats came in from two Muslims and one Christian, telling her to retract the statement. Two students from other departments who overheard some Muslim boys discussing the matter told Deborah’s close friends to prevail on her to retract the statement. But she replied, via a voice note on the platform, “Holy Ghost fire.” Nothing will happen to me.

Is it by force that you guys will always be sending this religious stuff to this group? The group wasn’t created for that but rather as a notice on a test, assignment, exam, etc., not these nonsense religious posts.

“We were made to understand that some young men were brought from outside before the outrage.” I was in class when some of our course mates rushed in, saying ‘there is fire on the mountain’.

“The Muslim students led the strangers to the class to look for her.” In fear, those in the class tried to help her escape and took her to the security post, from where they hoped to create a way for her to run outside. Already, a cab was waiting outside to drive her straight to the police station. Unfortunately, the mob overpowered everyone who tried to save her. They even threatened to kill anyone who attempted to stand in their way.

Her last word, as she pleaded for mercy,

She was dragged out, flogged and stoned. The last word in her mouth was, “What do you hope to achieve with this?” By then, some of our coursemates were making calls to some of our lecturers to save the situation. At one point, all the Christian students fled the school premises.

It was when I got home that I heard she was set ablaze. Since the incident, I have been having flashes of her pleading expression. She pleaded for mercy and called out for help, but it was far from her. She said, “What a cruel way to die.”