Deborah Samuel: Bakare berates Muslims justifying death penalty for blasphemy

Presidential aspirant and Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says there is nowhere in the Qur’an where capital punishment is prescribed as penalty for blasphemy.

Bakare said this in reaction to the killing of Deborah Samuel, a 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto.

The Presidential aspirant harps on religious and ethnic tolerance in the country, adding that no human should be subjected to such dehumanisation in the name of religion.

Part of the statement read, “It was with deep distress that I received the news of the gruesome killing of Deborah Samuel in Shehu Shagari College of Education, in Sokoto State.

“No Nigerian, and indeed, no human being, should be subjected to such inhumanity by fellow humans.

“As a nation of diverse peoples and cultures, there are available institutional mechanisms for resolving sensitive conflicts and, no matter the provocation, no person under our laws has the right to take laws into their own hands.

“As one who was a devout Muslim and who read the Qur’an from cover to cover, what was done to Deborah Samuel is nowhere justified in the religion of peace that was handed down to me by my grandfather who was the first Chief Imam of Iporo Sodeke Mosque in Abeokuta.”

Bakare condoled with the family of Deborah Samuel and prayed for God to grant them the fortitude to bear the great loss.

He commended Governor Aminu Tambuwal for deploying security to restore law and order to ensure that justice is done and to address the “underlying issues that this sad incident has once again brought to the fore.”

Bakare appealed to the residents of Sokoto State to remember the tolerance and hospitality that they have always been known for.

“So hospitable were the people that my father settled in Sokoto State for a period and invested in cotton farms in Shagari Village. Though he was Yoruba, my father was given the nickname “Sanni Arewa” by the very friendly people of Sokoto. Such unity and tolerance should remain our true identity as a people,” the statement read.