The Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (CPFN) has called on Islamic leaders to educate their followers through open preaching in Mosques and mass media on the negative effects of taking laws into their hands whenever they are aggrieved by alleged infringement on their religious beliefs.
The National Chairman, CPFN, Pastor E.S Awojide, in a statement through Elder Segun Bamidele, its National Publicity Secretary, was reacting to the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, who was stoned to death and burnt for alleged blasphemy of Prophet Muhammad.
The Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria condemned the killing and described the act as inhuman and illegal.
According to the statement, the Sultan of Sokoto, the leader of all Muslims in Nigeria, and other Islamic leaders should openly preach to all Muslims never to attack or kill any person for whatever reason, but to report any allegation of infringement of any law or custom to the Police and not to take laws into their hands.
It opined that preaching openly in the mosque and on national television would carry weight and convince Muslims that killing others for blasphemy was not the appropriate thing to do.
According to CPFN, although the Sultan had issued a statement against the killing of the student, it was not enough for him and the head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria.
It stated, “The Sultan should let his followers know the consequences of violation of all human rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
He condemned in strongest terms what he called a “heinous incident” and called for the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of all those involved not just the two already apprehended.
The statement stated that the laws of the land do not allow anyone to take the life of another fellow human for any reason.
The CPFN, therefore, commiserated with the family of Deborah Samuel, all Christians in Sokoto State and Nigeria at large, appealing to them to maintain calm and orderliness in the face of the challenge.
The national chairman also called on Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, bring the people behind the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel to book.
To ensure that justice was served to serve as a deterrent to other criminal elements using religion as a cover, the statement suggested that culprits should be made to face the law.
