Nigeria: Man Stoned To Death By Irate Muslim Mob For Allegedly Making 'Blasphemous' Comments Against Prophet Muhammad

An irate mob of Muslims in Sokoto on Sunday (June 25) lynched a man to death for allegedly making blasphemous comments against Muhammad, widely regarded by followers of Islam as their last Prophet.

The Sokoto State Police Command confirmed the killing of Usman Buda who was employed as a butcher in an abattoir.

“On 25th June 2023 at about 0955hrs, a distress call was received at about 0920hrs that one Usman Buda ‘M’ of Gwandu LGA a Butcher at Sokoto Abattoir allegedly blasphemed the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW); as a result, he was mobbed and attacked by some Muslims faithful and inflicted Serious injuries on him." local police spokesperson Ahmad Rufai said in a statement.

“Upon receiving the information, the Commissioner of Police, Area Commander Metro and DPO Kwanni led a team of policemen and all other operational commanders to the scene. On arrival, the mob escaped the scene and left the victim unconscious; where he was rescued and taken to Usmanu Danfodio Teaching Hospital Sokoto (UDUTH) for treatment and was later confirmed dead" the statement added.

According to reports in local media, Buda was stoned to death by his colleagues following an argument that ensued after he took objection to children begging for the sake of Allah and the Prophet.

A video of the attack widely shared on social media shows a man staggering and falling as a mob throws stones at him amid shouts of "Allahu Akbar"("God is Great").

Governor Ahmed Aliyu cautioned Sokoto residents to desist from any “act capable of degrading the personality of Prophet Muhammad.” 

In May 2022, Deborah Samuel, a student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, was lynched by her fellow students after being accused of blasphemy.

Samuel, a student of the Department of Early Childhood Education in the college, was accused of blasphemy against Muhammad, in a voice note she sent on her class WhatsApp group.

Following the arrest of suspects who lynched a student accused of blasphemy, violence broke out in the area with protesters, who went on a rampage attacking churches and shops owned by Christians, demanding the release of two suspects arrested in connection with the lynching.. A curfew was imposed on the Sokoto metropolis to control the violence.

School authorities attempted to rescue her but the irate students forcibly snatched her from her hiding place, lynched her and burnt her corpse.

Blasphemy attracts the death penalty under Islamic law, or sharia, which operates alongside common law in a dozen predominantly Muslim states in northern Nigeria.

In many cases, the accused are killed by mobs without going through any legal process.

Although Sharia law is supposed to apply only to Muslims, in reality non-Muslims come under pressure to adhere to hisbah (Sharia police) rulings.

In August 2020, a Kano Islamic court sentenced gospel musician Yahya Sharif-Aminu to death by hanging for blasphemy, in “violation of Section 382 (B) of the Kano State Sharia Penal Code.”

In March 2007, Christiana Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin, a schoolteacher in Gandu in the northeastern state of Gombe, was beaten and stabbed to death after a student accused her—falsely, as it happens—of tearing a copy of the Quran. All sixteen suspects arrested in connection with the killing were later released without charge.  

In 2002, more than 200 people were killed in widespread rioting after a journalist joked that Muhammad would have chosen a wife from one of the contestants in that year’s Miss World competition.