Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday night, deleted his Twitter and Facebook comments condemning the murder of Deborah Samuel.
The deceased, an undergraduate student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, was on Thursday brutally murdered by an angry mob for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.
Atiku wrote after the incident on his social media pages: “There cannot be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and all those behind her death must be brought to justice. My condolences to her family and friends.” However, Islamic extremists in support of the act, mostly Northerners, stormed his Facebook and Twitter pages, threatening to not vote for him in the upcoming elections, and also threatened physical attack.
Succumbing to the threats, Atiku first deleted the comment of his Facebook page and later deleted the Twitter comment. Paradoxically however, his action has triggered a backlash from many on social media, accusing him of cowardice and calling him unfit to rule as President.
Sokoto State Commissioner of Information, Isa Bajini Galadanchi, has termed the incident as “unfortunate” and stated that Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has ordered an investigation into the matter to be carried out immediately. He also added that the Governor has instructed the Ministry of Education and other related agencies to also begin investigations, and urged everybody to remain calm and trust the government to handle the situation appropriately.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar has also condemned the incident, stating that nobody has the right to take the laws into their hands. He further assured that enforcement agencies would investigate the incident, and condoled with the family of the deceased, promising that justice would be served.
Atiku has however remained silent since deleting his condemning comments, even as the backlash against him continues to soar on social media.
