On Saturday, the food vendor was set on fire and killed by a mob in Niger state, northern Nigeria due to her reaction to a marriage proposal that was considered blasphemous against Prophet Muhammad.
The police made the victim identification as Amaye and referred to the murder as “jungle justice.”
According to the eye-witnesses’ stories reported by the local media, the incident took place in Kasuwan-Garba town when a man, in a joke, offered marriage to the vendor. People in the area felt that her reply was blasphemous; they attacked her, which led to death.
The spokesperson of the state police, Wasiu Abiodun, said the woman was first set on fire before the security reinforcements arrived at the spot.
Abiodun urged everyone not to lose their temper but instead show restraint by not taking the law into their own hands. An investigation has been instituted by the police with the view of arresting and prosecuting those who have committed the crime.
These events happen from time to time in the northern part of Nigeria. There, derogatory or contemptuous references to religion are considered a punishable offense according to the Islamic Sharia law, which is applied alongside secular law in 12 mostly Muslim states.
Two persons, in addition to six others, were killed as a result of three similar incidents in the last three years.
In 2022, a student named Deborah Samuel was severely beaten, and set on fire, and consequently died in Sokoto state after being blamed for making blasphemous remarks. Last year, a butcher called Usman Buda was killed by throwing stones at him in the same area under similar conditions.
Nigeria’s Supreme Court has passed a verdict that such accusations must be scientifically proven in a court of law. However, critics argue that there is little enforcement to thwart the killings.
