May your killers never know peace – Fr Kelvin on Deborah Samuel’s one-year remembrance

A Nigerian Catholic priest serving in Gambia, Fr Kelvin Ugwu, on Friday, prayed that the killers of Deborah Emmanuel, a female student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto State, would never know peace.

Deborah was burnt alive on May 12, 2022, by her schoolmates over alleged blasphemy against Prophet Mohammed.

In a post on his Facebook page on Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of Deborah’s death, the Catholic priest questioned why the slain 200-level student was yet to get justice after one year.

He wrote, “Today made it exactly one year since you were brutally killed by your schoolmates. Your body was burnt to ashes by them. Your killers made a video of the whole thing shouting ʾAllāhu ʾakbar (God is the greatest). I am not sure which God they are talking about.

“After your death, there was uproar. The government of your country did not do much to help; they just closed your school for a few weeks and charged some persons to court.

“One presidential candidate allegedly sponsored lawyers to defend your killers. They arrested some persons for what they called civil unrest. But no single person has been arrested for killing you. No one is in custody. Everyone seemed to have moved on.

“I would have said that you should rest in peace, but what is the use of peace without justice? May your killers and all those who support them never know peace”.