{"id":29756,"date":"2023-06-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/press\/market-trader-murdered-following-unproven-blasphemy-accusation-6021\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:53:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:53:19","slug":"market-trader-murdered-following-unproven-blasphemy-accusation-6021","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/press\/market-trader-murdered-following-unproven-blasphemy-accusation-6021\/","title":{"rendered":"Market trader murdered following unproven blasphemy accusation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CSW condemns the murder of market trader Usman Buda in Sokoto State, northwest Nigeria, on 25 June, following an unproven blasphemy accusation.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Buda, a successful butcher who worked in the Sokoto State capital\u2019s main abattoir, was alleged to have blasphemed during an argument with a fellow market trader. In a video<\/a> reportedly depicting his murder he is seen being beaten with sticks and stoned by a mob chanting \u2018Allah u Akbar\u2019. The mob included several minors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Buda\u2019s body was eventually transported to the Usmanu Danfodio Teaching Hospital by members of the Sokoto State Police Command, who arrived at the scene after receiving a distress call, where he was declared dead. According to Nigerian media<\/a>, market leaders who had attempted to rescue him were also injured and required medical attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends of Mr Buda rejected<\/a> assertions that he had committed blasphemy, pointing out he was a devout member of the Salafi Izala movement. One market seller commented: \u2018I know Usman liked arguments on religious issues, but I didn\u2019t hear him even for once using derogatory remarks against the Prophet\u2019s companions.\u2019 Instead, they attribute Mr Buda\u2019s murder to jealousy on the part of his competitors, with another butcher saying: \u2018the seller next to him will now come back, because he has been out of the business since during the fasting period due to lack of patronage, because people patronise Usman more than him.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Sokoto State police, efforts to identify and arrest Mr Buda\u2019s murderers are continuing. In a statement<\/a> signed by his spokesperson, Sokoto State Governor Ahmed Aliyu called on people \u2018to avoid taking laws into their own hands and instead report any alleged crime or blasphemy to the appropriate quarters\u2019 for appropriate action, because his administration would not tolerate any abusive action or blasphemous statement against Prophet Mohammed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The killing of Mr Buda comes a little over a year after the lynching<\/a> of Christian student Deborah Emmanuel at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto metropolis following an unsubstantiated blasphemy accusation. Despite an abundance of video evidence depicting her murder, only two men among the mob who killed Ms Emmanuel were arraigned on charges of \u2018public disturbance,\u2019 as opposed to murder. In January 2023<\/a> they were freed by Chief Magistrate Shuaibu Ahmad, on the grounds that the prosecution regularly failed to attend scheduled court hearings, \u2018and where they are present, they are always not serious in prosecuting this case.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigeria is one of 71 countries that criminalises blasphemy, in a law dating back to the colonial era. The law not only contravenes the country\u2019s constitution, which allows for the freedoms of thought, conscience, and expression; it is also incompatible with the nation\u2019s international obligations with regard to the freedoms of religion or belief (FoRB), opinion and expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the sentence stipulated for blasphemy under Section 204 of Nigeria\u2019s criminal code is two years, the institution of Shari\u2019a penal codes by 12 northern states since 2001 effectively made Islam into a state religion, in a further violation of Nigeria\u2019s secular constitution, which grants Shari\u2019a Courts jurisdiction over non-criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSW\u2019s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: \u2018CSW condemns this horrific murder in the strongest terms, and we extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr Buda. We are also appalled to learn of the release of the men detained in connection with the murder of Ms Emmanuel. We urge both state and federal authorities to combat the impunity currently enjoyed by those who weaponise blasphemy allegations by tracing the instigators of, and key participants in the murders Mr Buda and Ms Emmanuel, and prosecuting them for murder and incitement. Nigeria must also address as a matter of urgency the anomaly whereby the penal code punishes blasphemy with a prison term, while Shari\u2019a Courts in northern Nigeria impose excessive sentences<\/a>. The repeal of the blasphemy law is essential; not only is it incompatible with the country\u2019s constitutional and international obligations, it also fuels the kind of religious extremism that leads to gruesome murders of innocent individuals following malicious accusations.\u2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CSW condemns the murder of market trader Usman Buda in Sokoto State, northwest Nigeria, on 25 June, following an unproven blasphemy accusation.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19620,"template":"","categories":[],"regions":[156,152],"class_list":["post-29756","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","regions-nigeria","regions-sub-saharan-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/29756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/29756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40340,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/29756\/revisions\/40340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29756"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=29756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}