Deborah: None of my 7 children’ll go to school again, says mother

She spoke as the husband and father of the slain Deborah, Mr. Emmanuel Garba, declared that as a good Christian, he and the family had resolved not to seek any redress from court over the loss of their daughter but leave everything to God.

Their response came as Sokoto State government, yesterday, suspended resumption of schools by one week, following the protest that trailed the incident last Friday.

This is even as popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, yesterday flayed Deborah’s killing, saying Prophet Mohammed was insulted while alive but never killed anybody.

Also yesterday, northern governors and the Fellowship of Churches of Christ in Nigeria, TEKAN, condemned the killing, and sought justice for the slain student, even as Catholic Diocese of Sokoto dismissed reports that the residence of Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah was attacked.

Similarly, Igbo youths also, yesterday, bemoaned attacks on Igbo residents in Sokoto, despite not being party to the incident that led to the protest that rocked the city on Friday.

Deborah’s mother, who spoke with Vanguard yesterday, revealed that the family was blessed with eight children but noted that with the sad development, none of the seven surviving children would be allowed to go to school again in order to avoid a similar experience.

Mrs Alheri, in a heavy-laden voice, declared: “What has happened to me is my cross and I will surely carry it but non of my seven surviving children will go to school again.”

On what she wanted from the government, she simply said: “I don’t want anything from government. In fact, the family is not expecting anything from government. Almighty God will take control.”

Mrs. Alheri, who has just been discharged from hospital over the shock, however, said she was recuperating and assured that she would soon get out of the shock. Late Deborah was the eldest of the eight children of her parents.

Also speaking with Vanguard, the father, Mr Garba Emmanuel, corroborated his wife’s declaration that the family would not go to court over the killing.

Speaking in Hausa, he said in a shaky voice: “The family will not go to court over the matter. Go to court to challenge human being or Almighty God over the issue? This is completely ruled out. God does not sleep. He knows what to do at the appropriate time and as the creator of everybody, we leave the case for Him to judge.

“Certainly, it is a big cross to bear but what can we do than to carry the cross and accept our fate in all totality as it has come.

“Beside receiving the shock over the gruesome death of my daughter, I had another bitter experience to go and personally transport her corpse from Sokoto to Niger State. It was the saddest moment of my life to go and pick the corpse of my daughter and brought her home in a chartered bus, for which I paid N120,000.

“I pleaded at the hospital that since the corpse had been burnt, they should help me with the remains, so it doesn’t decompose completely for us to bury her.

“I also pleaded with the DSS and they reasoned along with me and agreed to release her remains to me after signing some documents. Which moment can be as sad as this in one’s life? However, it is all over and it has become history.”