Usman Buda, a cow entrails seller in a grocery market in Sokoto, has been beaten to death for allegedly making blasphemous comments against Prophet Muhammad.
According to Daily Trust report, the butcher allegedly made the comment during an argument with another trader on Sunday morning.
An eyewitness told the newspaper that efforts by the market leaders to save him from the mob ended in futility.
“Our leaders made a fruitless attempt to save him, but they could not contain the crowd. They initially rescued him and hid him before they were overpowered.”
“He was beaten to death by his fellow butchers. His corpse was later taken away by the police,” he said.
Another account said his closest business partners also attempted to rescue him, but some of them sustained injuries and are currently receiving treatment at the hospital.
A security operative who confirmed the incident on condition of anonymity, said the suspect was originally from Tambuwal local government area but was residing at Gidan Igwe in Sokoto North local government area.
However, Mr Buda’s neighbour, who identified himself as Malam Yusuf, said the killing could be as a result of envy by some of his colleagues.
“Usman is my immediate neighbour. He is very religious, in fact, he belonged to Izala sect. We prayed and attended Tafsir together at the primary board quarters. There is no way he could make such a statement against the Holy Prophet.”
“There must be a reason behind his murder. Because he is very popular in his business of selling cow entrails and was envied by many of his colleagues,” he said.
While expressing shock over the incident, a perishable item seller in the market, said that the deceased would never make such a comment.
“I have not been myself since I heard about what happened. I know Usman liked arguments on religious issues, but I didn’t hear him even for once using derogatory remarks against the Prophet’s companions,” he said.
Similarly, another butcher said, “The cow entrails the 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”.
Meanwhile, the Sokoto state police Command has confirmed the murder.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the command spokesperson, Ahmad Rufai, said Mr Buda died at the Usmanu Danfodio Teaching Hospital in Sokoto, UDUTH, after he was rescued by the police.
He said,” A distress call was received at about 9:20 a.m. that one Usman Buda ‘M’ of Gwandu local government area, a Butcher at Sokoto Abattoir, allegedly blasphemed the Holy Prophet Muhammad [SAW] and, as a result, was mobbed and attacked.
“Upon receiving the information, the Commissioner of Police, Area Commander Metro, and DPO Kwani led a team of policemen and all other operational commanders to the scene.
“On arrival, the mob escaped the scene and left the victim unconscious, where he was rescued and taken to Usmanu Danfodio Teaching Hospital Sokoto [UDUTH] for treatment and was later Confirmed dead.
“Meanwhile, an investigation is on to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to book,” it concluded.
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