President Muhammadu Buhari has reacted to the killing of eight persons by an extremist mob in Zamfara.
The president condemned the act, describing it as Barbaric. He promised that the the perpetrators of the crime would be brought to book.
The president issued the comment on Tuesday via his verified twitter handle. He assured Nigerians that violence will not be tolerated in any guise.
“I received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay. It is barbaric & unacceptable. I assure that the law will take its course,” he tweeted.
I received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay. It is barbaric & unacceptable. I assure that the law will take its course
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) August 23, 2016
My prayers are with the families of the victims.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) August 23, 2016
Under my watch we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) August 23, 2016
The people were killed on Monday in Talata-Mafara community in Zamfara State following violence that erupted over alleged blasphemy by a student of the Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata-Mafara.
The state Governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, reportedly joined hundreds of people to bury the deceased, who were said to have all been killed when an angry mob set fire on the house of a man who tried to rescue a student from the mob.
The student was alleged to have made a blasphemous statement against Islam and Prophet Muhammad and was consequently attacked by a mob.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the boy was said to have been beaten to a pulp by the mob, and the man, whose name was simply given as Tajudeen, took him in his car and drove him to a hospital. The mob then shifted the violence on the rescuer leading to the death of the eight.