Atiku deletes posts on female student killed over alleged blasphemy

Former Vice President and presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has deleted a post he made syndicated on his Facebook and Twitter pages about slain Deborah Samuel over fears that his 2023 presidential ambition may be threatened by religious fanatics.

Samuel was murdered at Shehu Shagari College of Education on Thursday morning for allegedly posting comments that blasphemed Prophet Mohammed. The violence has elicited widespread uproar and condemnation, with Catholic priest Matthew Kukah and Sultan of Sokoto calling on authorities to immediately bring the killers to book.

READ ALSO: Reactions as daughter of Atiku Abubakar, Nana is seen flying in a private jet

Mr Abubakar is from northern Adamawa state, but continues to receive support across the country, especially amongst southern Christians who see him as a moderate statesman.

“There cannot be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and all those behind her death must be brought to justice,” Mr Atiku said. “My condolences to her family and friends.”

Atiku’s posts around 10:20 p.m. Thursday were deleted less than an hour later after several reactions from some people.

Most of the comments were from fundamentalists who warned the politician to stay away from condemning the murder of the Christian student.

The former vice-president didn’t delete a similar message that he posted on Twitter until much later, indicating that he might have seen a difference between Facebook and Twitter users on the sensitive development.

A spokesman for Mr Abubkar did not return a request seeking comments about why he took down the post on Facebook.