Nigeria: Armed police stood by as Christian student was murdered

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – US human groups have virulently condemned the behavior of Nigerian armed policemen who stood by as Islamic extremists stoned a Christian student to death on her school campus in Sokoto state on May 12, Genocide Watch reports. In a further example of unchecked Islamic violence raging against Christians in northern Nigeria, student Deborah Emmanuel was murdered for allegedly insulting the Muslim prophet Muhammed in a Whatsapp post.

Video evidence of the murder shows a mob of around 100 young men brandishing stones and sticks with which they killed 22-year-old Emmanuel on the grounds of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Genocide Watch reports. In a telephone interview with Genocide Watch, Commissioner of Police Kamaldeen Okunlola said there had been around 15 policemen present on the scene, and that they could not help because they were overrun by the mob. However, the Commissioner acknowledged that many of the officers had assault rifles which they did not fire.

Disputing the police account in regard to the number of officers present, an eyewitness, who asked for anonymity for security reasons, told Genocide Watch that there were at least 50 uniformed policemen, including six officers of the Department of State Security at the scene. The officers did nothing to help Emmanuel as she was murdered.

In a statement about the policemen’s behavior, Nina Shea, a religious liberty specialist at The Hudson Institute, said: “The police must have clear orders to intervene to stop any violence, including mob lynching such as this. They either lack such orders or even are instructed to stand down when violent Muslims attack defenseless Christians.”

“This incident also underscores that Islamist extremism is rapidly spreading across northern Nigeria, despite the US State Department’s refusal to acknowledge this danger,” Shea added.

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