A lynch mob brutally killed a Christian student and burned her body in Sokoto state, Nigeria. Dozens of Muslim students stoned the young woman out of anger over an entry in a public Whatsapp group, the police said on Thursday.
“The students forcibly removed the victim from the security room where she had been hidden by the school authorities, killed her and set the building on fire.”
According to the information, the student’s statement was taken as an insult to the Prophet Mohammed. Footage circulated online showed the dead student in a pink dress lying face down between dozens of rocks.
The police announced that they would evaluate the videos and arrest those involved. So far there have been two arrests. The state government ordered the school to close immediately to determine “the remote and proximate causes of the incident.”
Sokoto is one of several northern states in Nigeria that adopted Sharia law in 2000. The Islamic courts work alongside the state judicial system and have handed down death sentences for adultery, blasphemy and homosexuality. But there were no executions. However, cases of deadly lynching without a trial are more common. About 50 percent Muslims and 48 percent Christians live in Nigeria.
More on the subject:
Ongoing raids, repeated kidnappings and terror by radical Muslims: Nigerian Bishop Niyiring talks about the security situation in his country – and how the church invests in security.
