In Nigeria’s Sokoto state, a lynching mob brutally killed a Christian student and burned her body. Dozens of Muslim students stoned the young woman in anger after she entered a public WhatsApp group, police said on Thursday. “Students forcibly removed the victim from the security room where she had been hidden by school authorities, killed her and set the building on fire.”
According to reports, the student’s statement was seen as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad. Footage leaked online showed the dead student in a pink robe lying face down between dozens of rocks.
Police said they would assess the videos and arrest those involved. So far, there have been two arrests. The state government ordered the school to close immediately to determine “the remote and immediate causes of the incident”.
Sokoto is one of several states in northern Nigeria that adopted Sharia in 2000. Sharia courts work alongside the state justice system and have handed down death sentences for adultery, blasphemy and homosexuality. But there were no executions. However, cases of fatal lynching without trial are more common.
