As indigenes of Sokoto wait with bated breaths for the tense atmosphere to calm down a bit after a series of riots and arrests, the Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal on Friday lifted the curfew imposed on the state capital.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that the curfew was imposed on Saturday due to protests by youths calling for the release of the suspected killers of Deborah Samuel, a Christian student of Shehu Shagari College of Education (SSCOE), murdered over alleged blasphemy.
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Tambuwal in a statement issued by the Commissioner of Information and Orientation, Isah Galadanci, banned all forms of processions in the State until further notice.
The statement reads in part: “Acting on enabling powers under Section 176 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, sections 1, 2 and 4 of the Public Order Act and Section 15 of Sokoto State Peace Preservation Law, Governor of Sokoto State, Rt Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR, Mutawallen Sokoto has after due consultations, lifted the curfew imposed on Sokoto metropolis with immediate effect .”
He, therefore, urged residents of the state to be law-abiding and stressed the need for peaceful co-existence amongst Nigerians.
Ms Samuel, a student of the Department of Early Childhood Education in the college, was accused of blasphemy against the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, in a voice note she sent on her class WhatsApp group.
Members of the school authorities and the school security operatives attempted to rescue her but the irate students forcibly snatched her from her hiding place, lynched her and burnt her corpse.
The state government announced an immediate closure of the school to avert the breakdown of law and order.
The next morning, police in the state announced the arrest of two suspects in connection with the killing.
A statement by Sanusi Abubakar, the police public relations officer, said other suspects caught in the viral video on Twitter “will soon be nailed too.”
On Saturday, the youth took to the streets to protest the detention of the suspects.
The rampaging youth targeted the Sultan’s palace, churches and shops.
The state government, thereafter, announced a curfew, to arrest the situation.