Sokoto Murder: I paid N120,000 to remove body of burnt Deborah, says griefing father
By Aliu Baba, Sokoto
The father of Deborah, the murdered female student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Mr Garba Emmanuel has said that he looked for and paid N120,000 to remove the gory remains of her daughter and take her home for burial.
He said no assistance came from authorities as the remains of her daughter was left in a pathetic state after fanatics stoned her to death and later burn her.
Garba said “I was the one who paid to transport the remains. I was charged N120,000 which I was forced to pay because that was the cheapest I got as the majority of people don’t like transporting corpses.”
He also said his remaining children will never go to school again, obviously a reflection of the trauma the family is currently going through. A family member who does not wish to be named told Irohinoodua that the school authority in Sokoto ignored the corps and have made no attempts to reach out to the beriefed family.
He stated, “I have yet to get a call or message from anyone concerning the incident. Nobody called me; I decided to go on my own. I went to the state CID (Criminal Investigation Department) office and begged them to help me get the corpse so I could bury it because leaving it there might make it decompose. Then they took me to the mortuary, did some paperwork and released the remains to me.”
He told Punch newspapers that his wife is traumatise and has been taking medicare.
“We are not seeking redress in any court over the killing of our daughter. We are firm believers in Christ who always leave everything in the hands of God. No vengeance, nothing. Everything is left to our creator.” Garba said.
He also said the family does not need any compensation from the Government
“We don’t want anything (from the government) but it is just unfortunate that we used all our resources to send her to school and now she is dead. She was my eldest child and I have seven others left.”
Mother of Deborah, Mrs Alheri Emmanuel echoed the feelings of her husband.
She said “I have no demands; I don’t want anything but one thing I know is that my children will never go to school again.”
However, the spokesperson of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Mr Bayo Oladejo said the peaceful protest will hold as scheduled.
CAN had ordered nationwide protest to be restricted to CAN secretariat across the 36 states of the Federatio
Oladejo said “The incident just happened, so we will be taking things a step at a time. Rest assured the peaceful protests will just be the beginning. We will take every available step to draw the attention of the world to what is happening in Nigeria.
“If it involves going to the ICC, we will do it. If it involves going to the United Nations, we will do it. We are not going to stop. This was what we said when the US removed Nigeria from the list of religious violators. CAN is the voice of the voiceless. Unfortunately, when we raise the alarm, people don’t listen until things like these happen.
“When a woman was killed in Kano, we cried out but nobody listened. When a preacher was killed in Kubwa, we cried out but no one listened. When you refuse to cry out, these killings will continue.”