From Sola Ojo, Abuja
Concerned civil society group, Equipping the Persecuted, has decried the inability of the Nigerian government to bring to book the perpetrators of the gruesome murder of Deborah Emmanuel three years after.
The group expressed worry that despite widespread national and international outrage, her killers remain unpunished by the Nigerian government, further widening the trust gap in the country’s administration of justice.
Three years ago, Deborah, a Christian student at Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, was brutally lynched and burnt by a mob of her classmates over alleged blasphemy.
Deborah’s cousin, Asabe Kdada Sabitu, who was with her moments before the killing, said that Deborah had been preparing for an exam that morning.
“Her last words to me were ‘What time is it?’ She wasn’t crying. She was quiet”.
Eyewitnesses recall that police officers were present during the attack but did nothing to intervene.
“Only two individuals were briefly tried for ‘public disturbance’ and later acquitted, leaving the core perpetrators untouched”.
Founder of Equipping the Persecuted, Judd Saul, decried the silence surrounding the case.
“Deborah was a young woman with dreams, a future. The silence three years later is deafening,” he said, calling on the global community to act against rising anti-Christian violence in Nigeria.
Douglas Burton questioned Nigeria’s willingness to face its religious crisis.
“A nation that cannot identify and prosecute her murderers will never find peace or dignity,” he said.
Deborah’s killing has become a symbol of Nigeria’s broader crisis of religious persecution.
Groups like Equipping the Persecuted continue to support Christian communities through aid, trauma care and security training, while advocacy platforms like TruthNigeria demand accountability.
Three years later, Deborah’s name still calls for justice. And for many, her blood still cries out for justice.