HighLife
The gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel, the 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education (SSCOE), Sokoto, has caught the attention of Nigerians at home and abroad. According to reports, the late Samuel allegedly blasphemed Prophet Muhammad, the progenitor of Islam. For that, she was flogged, stoned, and set on fire by some of her classmates. While many individuals, Muslim, Christian, or otherwise, took to their social media handles to condemn the act, a few appeared to support the girl’s murder.
One of the high-profile individuals who belong to the latter category is Captain Abdul Jamil Abubakar, the son of former Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar and son-in-law of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. Judging from the statement made by Jamil, it is not unreasonable that the late SSCOE student paid for her alleged blasphemy with her life.
Specifically, Jamil posted on his Twitter handle, “In Islam, we respect the Injil, Taura, Zabur, we were never taught to disrespect any of the books, or any of the prophets From Adam to Muhammad SAW and the Quran. The punishment for blasphemy is death! in most religions including Christianity. Respect people’s religion. It’s simple!”
Of course, Jamil’s comments did not sit with the majority of his audience. These people could not understand how Jamil, an individual that used to bear the weight of other people’s lives by helping them travel in aeroplanes, could so disregard the life of another person, a young adult, for that matter.
As expected, there were many repercussions to his statement. Although Jamil has released a statement to retract claims that he supports the killing of the late Ms. Samuel, he is still in the crosshairs of individuals and groups who are opposed to such jungle justice murders. In fact, Azman Airline, an airline that Jamil worked with a few years ago, released their statement that he is no longer working with them and that his opinions about anything are his own.
All in all, it is not a good time to be Jamil. But, what he might go through as a result of his insensitive statement cannot hold a candle next to what the late SSCOE student experienced.
