It was indeed a black Thursday in Sokoto on May 12, 2022, after Deborah Yakubu, a female student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, was lynched, stoned and then burnt to death by her Muslim colleges over what they termed blasphemy against their prophet. Aside from the school confirming the story, videos of the perpetrators of the act boasting about killing the young female student have also gone viral.
This has caused mayhem both online and offline, with millions of Nigerians, spearheaded by Catholic Priest Mattew Kukah and the Sultan of Sokoto, calling for justice to take its course and the perpetrators to be brought to book. Initially, Atiku Abubakar had equally joined the train. Being a presidential hopeful whose voice needs to be in sync with the masses constantly, the politician condemned the act in a post on his verified Facebook and Twitter pages. But the moment the desperate PDP elder statesman was asked to choose between condemning Deborah’s killing and his presidential ambition.
He did the unthinkable. To Nigeria’s utmost shock, the vice-president took down the post hours later after some fanatics in Sokoto promised to punish him with their votes, threatening that he would fail to gather the votes of Muslims in Sokoto at the forthcoming presidential polls. To further appease these people, the 75-year-old made another post on his verified Hausa Page on Facebook, where he denied making the earlier post condemning the killing of Deborah. Is this Atiku Abubakar throwing Christians and Southerners under the bus to please Muslims and Northerners? Has the Vice President truly been picked aside? #DeboraYakubu #AtikuAbubakar #DeboraYakubusdeath
