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The killing of Christian student Deborah Samuel by a mob who accused her of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed in Nigeria’s mostly Muslim northern Sokoto state led to fractious debate online – and a number of false and misleading posts that risked enflaming religious tensions in a country already troubled by violence. Samuel was stoned to death and her body burnt on May 12, 2022, by Muslim students from Shehu Shagari College of Education after they deemed a post by her on social media to be an insult to the Prophet Mohammed. The internet in Nigeria went into overdrive. In the state capital, also called Sokoto, what started out as an online debate about the killing escalated into citywide unrest when demonstrations in support of two students arrested in connection with Samuel’s murder turned violent. While some condemned Samuel’s death (and questioned Nigeria’s unity questioned) on Twitter and Facebook, others defended the penalty of death for blasphemy. Screenshots showing reactions to the blasphemy killing in Sokoto Blasphemy is highly sensitive in Africa’s most populous country, which is roughly evenly split between the mostly Christian south and the predominantly Muslim north. With more than 250 ethnic and linguistic groups, Nigeria often sees flare-ups in intercommunal tensions. Opportunists were quick to exploit the religious discord with false and alarming claims online after Samuel’s death. Two examples centered on a video from 2021, months before Samuel was killed. Woman beaten by mob Amid the unrest, footage emerged of a group of people flogging a woman at the entrance to a compound. It was widely shared in social media posts claiming to show youths in predominantly Muslim Sokoto going from house to house attacking Christians. The video has been viewed nearly 12,000 times on Twitter where it was published in response to a tweet that reads: ONE NIGERIA is a JOKE. Screenshot of the false tweet, taken on May 20, 2022 Supporters of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) also latched on to the clip with an entirely different narrative – that the mob was targeting ethnic Igbo people in the state. Biafra was the name of the short-lived 1960s independence declaration for the Igbo people in Nigeria’s southeast that sparked a three-year civil war. The outlawed IPOB movement agitates for a new separate state for the Igbo people in the southeast region. After the Northern Muslims lynched Deborah Samuel, they've turned their club against Biafrans living in the North, by going house to house to kill them, reads a tweet by a pro-Biafran user. Is this another 1966 massacre. Screenshot of the false tweet, taken on May 17, 2022 The claim by IPOB was part of its broader campaign on social media to keep alive the dream of an independent Biafran state in southeastern Nigeria. But in reality, the clip is old and unrelated to events in Sokoto. By using video verification tool InVID-WeVerify , AFP Fact Check found the video has been circulating online since at least August 2021. Churches targeted Another set of posts claimed that the residence of Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, was set on fire by the protestors. But this was false. We wish to disclaim that there was an attack of any sort on the residence of Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, read a statement from the Catholic Diocese. Statement released by the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto However, other posts claiming the mob had attacked Catholic churches, including St Kevin’s Catholic Church, which was partly burnt, were confirmed to be true in the same statement. Armed Catholic priest Similarly, multiple pro-northern Facebook accounts shared an image of a man in a smock holding a rifle as proof that Christian leaders in Sokoto were carrying arms to defend themselves against the protesters. Nearly 10,000 users have shared the claim in a Facebook post written in Hausa, a language predominantly spoken in Nigeria’s northern region, including Sokoto. The post urges people to share widely so that Nigerian government will know who are peaceful people and who are terrorists. Screenshot taken on May 17, 2022, showing the false Facebook post However, the photo in question has been online since at least January 2017 when it accompanied a report about a clergyman said to be ready to defend himself and his church against Boko Haram terrorists. Journalist dragged into debate Another disinformation campaign saw Nigerian journalist Ayodeji Rotinwa painted as a murderous doctor called Christopher Uche-Ayodeji (Dr Chris). Shared screenshots of a Facebook post attributed to the purported doctor appeared to show him admitting to killing Muslim patients in Nigeria’s north before relocating to the United Kingdom as a physician with the UK’s University Hospitals Birmingham – a claim that was dismissed by the health institution. A photo of Rotinwa was included along with some of the screenshots wrongly identifying him as the so-called doctor. Many of these posts were deleted after Rotinwa set the record straight. Seen many incredible things on this app but this is by far beyond. This person is USING MY PHOTO, claiming I AM SOMEONE ELSE WHO HAS COMMITTED A MURDER???? I am NOT Christopher Uche. Everyone who knows me, please report this tweet. https://t.co/apsricGcAs — Ayodeji Rotinwa (@ARotinwa) May 14, 2022 AFP Fact Check could not find any trace of the doctor’s Facebook account, suggesting the screenshots may have been fabricated. Erroneous report sparks rumours An erroneous report by Nigerian broadcaster TVC News linking the murder to demonstrations against the closure of public universities was widely circulated on social media. Wait.... Wait. Did Tinubu's TVC just report the killings and destruction in Sokoto as being a result of ASUU strike?? Since when did a College of Education become a part of ASUU. Someone tell me there's some prank in this abeg pic.twitter.com/I3HgFat8YI — Brand Ambassador of Okpa (@Ujamidaize) May 15, 2022 Some people who believe TVC News is owned by presidential hopeful Bola Tinubu accused the broadcaster of downplaying the cause of Samuel’s death in order to secure votes from the region for Tinubu. A former Lagos governor, Tinubu is one of the main aspirants for the ruling APC party in the 2023 presidential election. TVC acknowledged the errors in its reporting and corrected them in another broadcast. However, the two clips became a major talking point on Twitter with some arguing the incorrect report was doctored to discredit the broadcaster. Others questioned the credibility of the media organisation. Pilot’s tweet At the height of the debate, numerous online posts claimed that Nigerian airline Azman Air had fired Captain Jamil Abubakar for tweeting three screenshots supporting death as punishment for blasphemy. The punishment for Blasphemy is DEATH! in most religions including Christianity, read Abubakar’stweet, which was posted on May 13, 2022, and then deleted. Screenshot of Abubakar’s tweets ( Twitter / Coolboy_Lanre) However, Azman Air clarified that although Abubakar was previously employed by the airline, his last flight with the company was on December 22, 2019. Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari strongly condemned the murder of Samuel.
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