34 Lawyers defend Deborah’s ‘killers,’ as court reminds suspects in prison

Not less than 34 lawyers have signed up to defend the alleged killers of Deborah Samuel, a student lynched by his school mates in Sokoto State over alleged blasphemy on Thursday.

Police on Monday arraigned the two suspects, Bilyaminu Aliyu and Aminu Hukunci over the lynching of the young student.

The suspects, co-students of the deceased, were docked at a Sokoto Chief Magistrate’s Court for their alleged participation in the crime.

Prosecuting Insp Khalil Musa told the court that investigation was in progress while the suspects pleaded not guilty to the crime.

Leading a team of 34 lawyers, the defence counsel, Prof. Mansur Ibrahim, applied for their bail on liberal terms citing constitutional provisions and sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law.

The trial judge (name withheld for security reasons) reserved the ruling on the bail application and ordered the accused to be remanded at a correctional centre.

Before she was lynched, Deborah was accused of denigrating Islam on a WhatsApp chat platform set up by her coursemates and refused to retract her post after she was asked to pull it down.

A violent street protest followed the arrest of suspects linked to the lynching of Deborah as the protesters demanded their immediate release by security operatives.

Governor Aminu Tambuwal consequently imposed a 24-hour curfew on Sokoto metropolis on Saturday. He relaxed the curfew on Monday to be observed from dusk to dawn