As JNI says says she wasn’t beheaded

By Luka Binniyat

KADUNA—The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, of the 19 northern states yesterday insisted that the trial of the killers of 74-year-old woman, Madam Bridget Agbahime, who was murdered by a mob at Kofar Wambai market, Kano, Kano State, last week over alleged blasphemy of Islam, must not be done in secret.

This is as the Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, yesterday said, contrary to the notion that Bridget was beheaded by Islamic zealots, the woman died of injuries inflicted on her, an act it strongly denounced.

JNI also condemned what it said was the crime of blasphemy, describing those involved as “miscreants and criminals.”

Speaking to newsmen in Kaduna yesterday, the PRO of Northern CAN, Rev. John Joseph Hayab, said: “CAN wonders why the police who claimed to have saved the husband of the late Madam Bridget from the mob, could not rescue the woman or arrest the perpetrators immediately.

“We wonder why people would just wake up and kill a fellow human being just because they are angry with the individual.

“Our religious leaders must come out and preach the true tenets of religion, because this arrogance is getting too much.  This type of issues are giving Kano State a bad name.

“Kano State government has to ensure that the trial of the man that raised the false alarm and his cohorts is not done in secret to serve as a deterrent to others.

On its part, the JNI, through a statement signed by its Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Aliyu Abubaka, in Kaduna yesterday reads: “With pains and sobriety, JNI reacts to the most unfortunate alleged blasphemy that was reported to have happened in Wambai Area of Kano, Kano State and Pandogari, Rafi Local Government Council of Niger State.

“These ugly incidences utterly stand condemned and are regarded as criminal and unislamic, perpetrated by miscreants and criminals.

“We commiserate with Mr. Agbahime of Deeper Life Bible Church of Kano, over the death of his wife, Mrs. Bridget Agbahime, as a result of injuries she sustained in the fracas that ensued between her and the hoodlums.

‘’Similarly, the husband is commended for swiftly setting the record straight against all odds, by stating that his wife was not beheaded as reported by the media.”