The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has criticised the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies for failing to protect citizens accused of blasphemy from mob violence, describing the lapses as evidence of institutional collapse.
In a statement signed by its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group condemned the killing of a female food seller, identified as Ammaye, who was lynched and set ablaze by angry youths in Mariga Local Council of Niger State over alleged blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.
The incident reportedly occurred at Kasuwan Garba when the woman, a Muslim and well-known food vendor, exchanged words with a young man said to be her nephew.
Eyewitnesses said her comments were considered offensive, sparking outrage that led to her being attacked before security reinforcements arrived.
Niger State Police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the killing, noting that efforts were underway to identify, arrest, and prosecute all those involved.
HURIWA, however, called for the dismissal of the Area Commander and the State Commissioner of Police, accusing them of dereliction of duty and failure to save the woman’s life.
The group said: “It is very wrong that Nigeria is normalising the primitive public executions of citizens accused of religious blasphemy as if to say that resorting to self-help measures such as lynching citizens publicly is tolerable. These killings are intolerable and absolutely unconstitutional and must be stopped.”
Quoting Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution, HURIWA stressed that every person has a right to life and can only be deprived of it through a lawful court sentence.
The group argued that repeated failures of security agencies to intervene or bring perpetrators to justice have entrenched a dangerous pattern of mob executions in the country.
It recalled that on May 12, 2022, Deborah Samuel, a 22-year-old Christian student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, was stoned and burnt to death by classmates over alleged blasphemy. HURIWA warned that similar extrajudicial killings continue to gain tacit support on social media platforms.
The organisation urged security agencies to prioritise constitutional obligations over religious sentiments and to clamp down on hate speech and extremist messages online. It lamented that, despite numerous incidents across the North, no perpetrators of blasphemy-related mob killings have been successfully prosecuted for murder.
