Following the recent killing of Deborah Samuel by some Muslim youths in Sokoto State, the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has called on Governor Aminu Tambuwal to ensure that perpetrators of the dastardly act face the full wrath of the law according to Daily Post.

ECWA also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Inspector General of Police and all other relevant security agencies to ensure that all the perpetrators of the dastardly act are “not only fished out but that they are brought to justice according to law”.

The church disclosed this through its President, Rev. Stephen Baba Panya, in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Panya said, “It is with great shock that I received the sad news of the gruesome, heartless and callous murder of yet another young, promising Nigerian girl of the Christian faith, Miss Deborah Yakubu who, until her untimely death on May 12, 2022, was a 200 level Home Economics Student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto.”

Few days ago, Deborah was reportedly murdered in cold blood at the Shehu Shagari College of Education by a group of Muslim students over alleged blasphemy against the Holy Prophet Mohammed.

According to him, “While it is possible and most times, primitively convenient to advance reasons to justify acts of bestiality by just anyone at any time, it must be stressed that bestiality ought not to have any space in any society where decency, decorum and accommodation for diversity reign supreme; and where the rule of law prevails.

“While our faith in this country is still very strong because we know that there are laws that ought to govern the conduct of all citizens like it is in every civilized clime, we are at a loss which provision under our nation’s jurisprudence permits the brutal, senseless and shameful killing and setting ablaze of a fellow Nigerian by any misguided group, under whatever pretext with no one held accountable.

Adding that “The least that Nigerians of all persuasions demand of the Nigerian government at all levels, if its legitimacy must not be put to jeopardy, is the guarantee of security to life and property and the dispensation of justice, equity and fair play to all regardless of religious, ethnic, social or political affiliation.

“The brutal killing and burning of Deborah by some misguided Muslim students is nothing short of overt criminality which we at the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) roundly condemn.

“We, therefore, call on the Sokoto State government under the leadership of His Excellency, Aminu Tambuwal to be deliberate in ensuring that no step is left to ensure that justice is not only seen to be done but that it is indeed done.

“We also call on Mr President, Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Inspector General of Police and all relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that all the perpetrators of this dastardly and despicable act are not only fished out but that they are brought to justice according to law.

“Deborah may just be one young girl whose precious life and ambition have been cruelly cut short, the entire world is watching, waiting and crying out for justice here on earth; otherwise, in heaven.

“In this midnight hour of our nation, at this very trying and agonizing moment, our hearts go to the parents, siblings and entire family of Miss Deborah and all that are grieving her death, we encourage you to take solace in the fact that no matter how it may look, Deborah’s martyrdom shall never be in vain.”

A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2023 general election, Bala Mohammed, has lamented the spate of insecurity and poverty in Nigeria.

Mohammed who is the governor of Bauchi State also condemned the constant borrowings by the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), since he took over the leadership of the country in 2015.

The governor decried the situation of the country while speaking with Nasarawa State PDP delegates in Lafia on Tuesday to seek their support for his presidential ambition.

He said, “Insecurity and poverty are everywhere and nobody cares. We are taking loans every day. Our federal, state and local governments may soon collapse because the money that we are generating from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is being used to service depts.

“The road from Abuja to Kano is costing N750 billion. That is over-bloated by the corrupt regime of this administration. These monies can construct all the roads in Northern Nigeria.”

The PDP presidential aspirant said he had great leadership skills to reposition the country if elected into office in 2023 but emphasised that he would obey the party’s decision if the position is zoned to a particular part of the country.

“I am running for President in 2023 because I have so much knowledge of the economy and how to tackle insecurity. I am ready to lead Nigeria to greatness and I know that I have the pedigree, antecedents, and experience to make our country great.

“Some of these ideas are what I have been using to build peace in Bauchi State. That is why we do not have any problems there.

“If I am elected as President in 2023, apart from other great innovations that I will implement to improve our economy, I will redefine our security architecture and ensure that we have a good recruitment process where every portion of the country will be well represented so that our teeming youths will have equal opportunities to get government jobs.

“But if our great party, the PDP says it is zoning the Presidency to a particular place or person through consensus, I will accept. However, I appeal that we should create a level playing field for everybody. What we need is unity, love, justice and equity”, Mohammed said.

Chairman of PDP in the state, Francis Orogu, who spoke on behalf of the delegates, said they were yet to adopt an aspirant they would vote for in the forthcoming presidential primary election but assured that they would support an aspirant who would develop all sectors of the country when elected into office.

An elder statesman and senior lawyer, Robert Clarke, SAN, Monday in Abuja, said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), should serve for an extra six months to give him enough time to address the country’s security woes according to Punch Newspapers.

Clarke stated that with less than a year to the 2023 elections there was not enough time to address the insecurity to ensure a safe exercise, he noted that the Constitution provided the President to extend his tenure for six months in the first instance if conditions were not ripe for an election.

He, however, warned that the nation may not scale through 2023 if nothing was done before the elections.

The Constitution provides that the President can stay longer than eight years. I’ve always said it. It is in the Constitution. If the situation in which we’re in now continues, and it is impossible to vote in the 2023 elections, the Constitution says if a situation persists, the President can stay. Given all insurgencies, kidnappings, and Boko Haram, I don’t think in these areas of Nigeria, we can have a good election.

“So, the fact that the Constitution says the president cannot stay for more than eight years is wrong. Because the same constitution says he can be given six months if those conditions persist.

“Now, I don’t see any green light. I don’t see how what is happening today can be stopped within six months from today or before February next year when the elections will be held.

The alternative then is for Mr. President to continue as president, allow the security watches to carry up the mopping up and Nigeria will become stable.

“Because I swear to God Almighty, without stability in Nigeria, without security, Nigeria is going nowhere. No foreigner will bring his money and put in any business in Nigeria when he knows that any of his expatriates who are sent to Nigeria can be kidnapped at any time.

So, until all these things are sorted out, I don’t see any green light. If nothing happens before the elections, God forbid, this country will go down in flames,” Clark said.

Clarke’s assertion came barely three weeks after legal luminary, Afe Babalola, suggested that the country should suspend its 2023 elections instead and institute an interim government after Buhari’s tenure elapses.

The pro-chancellor of the Afe Babalola University had suggested that the interim government should serve for six months to chart a new course for the country.

He faulted the current 1999 Constitution, saying it no longer reflects the present-day reality of Nigeria.

Babalola argued, “The same Constitution has made politics become not only very attractive but the only lucrative business in Nigeria today.

What this means is that any election that holds under the present scenario will end up producing transactional and recycled leaders, with no ability to turn things around.”