On Thursday, May 12, Muslim students from Shehu Shagari College of Education in Wamako, Sokoto State, Nigeria, brutally attacked and killed fellow student Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a home economics major. Simply because she posted an online message: “Jesus Christ is the greatest, He helped me pass my exams.”
Deborah and her fellow students used an app called WhatsApp (similar to a Slack or Facebook Messenger) to keep in touch, discuss different academic questions and have cordial back-and-forth conversation. Through the app, certain Muslim students posted Islamic quotes, and feeling free to post her own religious encouragements, Deborah shared her Christian faith.
That’s when a group of radical Muslim students took immediate offense and threatened Deborah’s life. Sensing she was in imminent danger, Deborah’s friends tried to evacuate her from the college, but the Muslim students pried Deborah away and stoned her.
Deborah was stoned and flogged and then her lifeless body was set aflame.
Local police have since arrested two men in connection with the attack.
And what was Deborah guilty of to deserve such a brutal death? Acknowledging Jesus Christ as Savior in a country known as the “Christian murder capital of the world.” In 2021, close to 6,000 Nigerian Christians were killed for their faith—that equates to one person martyred every two hours because they follow Jesus. So far in 2022, over 1,900 Nigerians have been killed by bandits, gangs and organized groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP.