A curfew has been imposed on Nigeria’s northwestern city of Sokoto to control violent protest demanding the release of suspects in the killing of a christian school student , Deborah Samuel.
The curfew was announced as many individuals in the northwestern city of Sokoto demonstrated Saturday over the arrest of two students following the heinous killing of a Christian student accused to have made blasphemous statement.
Sokoto state governor Aminu Tambuwal disclosed in a statement on Saturday that the curfew applies to the state capital, Sokoto city. “Everybody ought to, please, in light of a legitimate concern for peace and harmony return home,” Governor Tambuwal demanded .
Africa’s most populous nation is generally split among Muslims and Christians yet religious tension and dangerous conflicts or clashes are considered to be rampant , especially in the north.
Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education was on Thursday battered to the point of death and her body consumed by a horde of Muslim students of the school after she made a post via social media they considered offended Prophet Muhammad.
Police said they made two arrest following the occurrence and that they had started a manhunt for different suspects who showed up in film of the gruesome murder which coursed via social media .
In the early morning of Saturday, Muslim young people rioted of the city, lighting huge fires and requesting the release of the two confined suspects in spite of the earlier dispatch of police to keep everything under control.
A portion of the protesters took over the royal residence of the Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and the highest spiritual figure among Muslims in Nigeria who condemned the killing and requested those who took part in that heinous crime to face justice .
“It was to a greater degree an uproar by a crowd of young persons and ladies who were requesting the release of the two individuals arrested over the killing of the Christian student,” Sokoto eyewitness Ibrahim Arkilla told the media.
“The group which made huge fires on the streets were additionally requesting the police stop the manhunt for those identified to have participated in the killing,” said Arkilla who saw the fights.
Countless protesters blockaded the palace of Abubakar reciting “Allahu Akbar” or God is Great, said resident Bube Ando who lives close to the royal residence.
“Some among the security men conveyed to safeguard the royal residence attempted to request that the protest leave however they turned out to be boisterous,” Ando said.
“Police and soldiers who remained outside the palace flung teargas canisters and succeeded in dispensing the crowd ,” he said, without giving insights concerning whether anybody was harmed.
The angry horde withdrew downtown where they endeavored to steal from shops belonging to Christian residents yet were scattered by security patrol teams , said another resident Faruk Danhili.
The protest died down, Danhili said, yet the city stayed tense and most streets were abandoned.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has “emphatically condemned ” the murder of Deborah Samuel.
“No individual has the right to take the law into their hands . Savagery has and never will solve any issue,” Buhari said in a statement on Friday.