Latest blasphemy killing highlights Nigeria’s problem with religious extremism
Police are yet to make arrests after a butcher was stoned to death by a mob for perceived insult to Islam
Hassan Abdulsamad in Sokoto
Fri 14 Jul 2023 06.00 BST
Lawiza Buda rocks on the sand, wailing with grief for her husband, Usman Buda, murdered by a mob in a marketplace after being accused of blasphemy. “Ya Allah! Ya Allah!” Lawiza screams. Two friends attempt to comfort her, but their own sorrow takes hold and they too burst into tears. Lawiza had fainted when the news of her husband’s gruesome killing reached her.
Usman Buda, a father of six, was stoned to death on 25 June after he made a passing remark to a beggar that was taken by the mob as a slur on the prophet Muhammad.
It is the latest in a string of reported attacks that are raising concerns over what many regard as Nigeria’s longstanding failure to address growing religious extremism in some of its poorest communities. Amnesty International, which condemned the murder, has blamed the Nigerian government for “creating a permissive environment for brutality”, while the US has urged Nigeria to repeal its blasphemy laws.
Buda worked on a butcher’s stall at the market in Sokoto, a north-western state with a rich Islamic history. The sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, is the spiritual leader of Nigerian Muslims. It was here in 1804 that the Islamic scholar Usman dan Fodio began one of the most infamous and bloodiest jihads in Africa.
In a video clip capturing part of the attack and widely shared across Nigeria, Buda is seen flailing under blows from sticks and stones as children are encouraged to throw rocks.
The Sokoto state government issued a controversial response condemning the killing but vowing to “deal decisively with anyone found guilty of any act aimed at degrading the personality of prophet Muhammad”. It offered no condolences to the grieving family.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... -extremism 
