Governor Ahmed Aliyu has warned Sokoto residents to desist from any “act capable of degrading the personality of Prophet Muhammad.” Sokoto mob murdered Usman Buda, a trader, on Sunday for blasphemy.

The governor said efforts were ongoing to nab the mob that lynched Mr Buda.

“The governor cautioned the people against any act capable of degrading the personality of Prophet Muhammad SAW, especially in a state like Sokoto, which is predominantly a Muslim-dominated community,” the governor said in a statement by his spokesperson, Abubakar Bawa, on Sunday. “Sokoto people have so much respect and regard for Prophet Muhammad SAW. Hence the need for all the residents to respect, protect his dignity and personality.”

While vowing that those behind the killing of Mr Buda will be apprehended and prosecuted, Mr Aliyu said, “I want to call on the people of Sokoto state to avoid taking laws into their hands. Instead, they report any alleged crime or blasphemy to the appropriate quarters for necessary action. Our religion does not encourage taking laws into one’s hands, so let us try to be good followers of our religion.”  

Religious crisis over blasphemy is rife in Africa’s most populous country, as is the public lynching of perceived blasphemers. Mob action is common among professed Muslims who take the law into their hands by lynching anyone believed to have insulted or spoken disparagingly about Prophet Muhammad or the Quran.

Peoples Gazette on Sunday reported how Islamic fanatics killed Mr Buda in the market at an abattoir in Sokoto. 

Mr Buda’s murder came barely a year after Deborah Samuel, a Christian student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Wamako, Sokoto, was killed over a similar allegation of blasphemy by Islamic fanatics.

The police reiterated that blasphemy is a criminal act in Nigeria and that lynching is also a crime while promising to bring Mr Buda’s killers to book. However, In May, The Gazette reported how the police charged Ms Samuel’s killers with “public disturbance” and failed to show up in court as prosecutors.

Isa Pantami, ex-communications minister under President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, was exposed by Peoples Gazette for plots with some Muslim leaders to wipe away Christians from northern parts of Nigeria violently. 

“They should know that we have more control of the masses and the youth,” Mr Pantami and other Muslim leaders said during the meeting held at Bauchi Central Mosque, according to a communique seen by Peoples Gazette. “Any attempt by the Christians to disobey or revolt against the decision shall mean fighting against the religion of Allah which the followers of Allah shall not watch but we shall violently wipe away the Christians in these states.”