Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College Education, Sokoto, who was killed on Thursday for allegedly “making blasphemous statements about Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had pleaded for mercy and called out for help before she died.

One of Deborah’s coursemates, identified simply as Rakia, told Vanguard that the last word of the deceased was ‘what do you hope to achieve with this?’

Narrating the incident, she said Deborah was flogged, killed, and burnt and it was the most horrible thing she has ever witnessed.

“Deborah was my course mate. I just stepped into the class when the uproar on her voice note started.

”It was her own coursemates that started it. One of them said Deborah dared them by refusing to apologise when she was asked to. It all started with a debate on the upcoming examination on a general WhatsApp platform created for our coursemates. One of the students asked her how she passed the last semester’s examination and in response, she said it was ‘Jesus o.’