BREAKING: Fani Kayode Attacks #Atiku Over #Deborah Yakubu’s Death – #Blasphemy—-Former Vice President and 2023 presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, has come under fire from all sides after he withdrew his condemnation of the lynching of one Deborah Yakubu who was accused of blaspheming Prophet Muhammad in Sokoto State.
Until her death, Deborah was a 200-level student of the Department of Home Economics at the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto.
Some videos that went viral on social media on Thursday showed the moment some Islamic extremists stoned her to death and burnt her body.
Atiku, a frontline presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had initially condemned her murder and called for justice against her killers in a statement he shared across his Twitter and Facebook pages.
“There cannot be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and all those behind her death must be brought to justice. My condolences to her family and friends,” the two-time former vice president had said.
But the Turakin Adamawa’s condemnation of Deborah’s murder quickly sparked criticisms from the extremists who stormed his social media pages and threatened not to vote for him in the 2023 elections.
In apparent response to the threats, Atiku deleted the tweets and made another in Hausa language where he disowned the initial posts as not authorized by him.
“This evening, I received information that a post was made that doesn’t agree with my orders. I use this to announce that any post without AA is not from me. May God protect,” the former VP wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
The deletion of his second tweet, however, sparked more outrage from Nigerians, including a harsh response from former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode.
“The refusal to condemn the killing of Deborah & the withdrawal of an earlier condemnation is worse than the killing itself. By this @Atiku has murdered Deborah all over again & pissed on her grave. He has also encouraged other sociopaths to come out & commit murder with impunity,” Fani-Kayode said in a tweet on Friday.
Atiku’s media team has yet to issue further statements on the incident and ensuing backlash to the former vice president’s initial remarks.
