Blasphemy: Why I deleted tweet condemning Deborah’s lynching – Atiku

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the 2023 presidential election, has explained why his tweet condemning the killing of Deborah Samuel a second-year student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto was deleted.

Deborah was lynched by a mob for alleged blasphemy in May.

The former Vice President who condemned the heinous act on his Twitter handle later deleted the post to the chagrin of Nigerians.

Abubakar’s decision generated reactions from Nigerians on social media with many berating him for exhibiting double-standard on the matter.

Efforts by the PDP candidate to placate Nigerians on the matter had however fallen on deaf ears.

Abubakar, who spoke at Channels Television’s town hall meeting in Abuja, said the removal of the tweet was not approved by him.

“I asked the tweet to be deleted because I normally approve every tweet and since I did not approve the tweet, I asked them to delete it. If you read my subsequent statement on that murder, I condemned it.”

Following Deborah’s murder, a tweet via Atiku’s verified page had read, “There cannot be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered and all those behind her death must be brought to justice. My condolences to her family and friends.”

A few hours after the post, Atiku deleted the tweet and took to Facebook to justify his actions.

In a message on his verified Hausa page, the former Vice President distanced himself from the message. He also stated that any message on social media without the initials “A. A.” was not his.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, has berated the Vice President over his response to the question on the removal of the controversial tweet.