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Remi Hassan, coursemate of late Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto State, who was stoned to death and burnt on Thursday by her fellow students for allegedly making a blasphemous statement on a WhatsApp group, has given an account of how the incident happened.
The coursemate, on Sunday, via social media, gave the details of what transpired on the WhatsApp group that led to Deborah being stoned to death and burnt by her fellow students.
She said: “Deborah was my course mate. I just stepped into the class when the uproar on her voice note started
It was her own coursemates that started it. One of them said Deborah dared them by refusing to apologize whenever she was asked to.
“It all started with a debate on the upcoming examination on a general WhatsApp platform created for our coursemates. 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 in this group? The group wasn’t created for that but rather as a notice on test, assignment, exam, etc, not this 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 coursemates rushed in, saying ‘there is fire on the mountain o’.
“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.
Deborah’s 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 a 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 a flash of her pleading expression. She pleaded for mercy and called out for help but it was far from her. What a cruel way to die.” She said.”
The remains of Deborah were laid to rest in her hometown, Tungan Magajiya in Rijau Local Government Area of Niger State on Saturday amidst controversy.
This is even as the Sokoto State Government allegedly insisted that the body be kept in the mortuary until it concludes its arrangement on the matter.
The deceased, it was gathered, had been living with family members in Sokoto since she was in primary school before her death.