Francis Emmanuel, a 41-year-old man, was on Tuesday assaulted by some youths in Kauri, a community in Kaduna state, for not observing the Ramadan fast.
Emmanuel, a carpenter, said the youth who were passing by, saw him eating at his work station, and approached him to find out why he was not partaking in the spiritual exercise.
He said they descended on him after he explained to them that he is not a Muslim, revealing that he did not know how he landed at St. Gerald Catholic Hospital, still in Kaura, where he has been responding to treatment.
“I went to buy wood that I would use to work, and on my way back, I decided to buy what I will eat,” he said.
“As I was eating, about six boys came to me and asked me whether I am a Muslim or a Christian, but I did not answer them. They asked me why I was not fasting, and it was at that point that I told them that I am not a Muslim.
“Before I knew what was happening, one of them slapped me. As I stood up in order to escape, the rest surrounded me. They started kicking me, using knives and other dangerous objects to attack me.
“Nobody could come to my aid because of the weapons in their possession. At some point, I lost consciousness. I don’t even know who brought me to the hospital.”
The incident happened less than a week after Bridget Agbahime, a 74-year-old trader, was murdered in Kano over alleged blasphemy.
Danladi Yerima, secretary-general of the northern zone of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), condemned the incident, wondering why such could happen in Kaduna which has been relatively peaceful in recent times.
He urged security agencies to arrest those behind the incident and charge them to court.
Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna state governor, has also expressed concerns over the development, asking the police to arrest the culprits.
“This is of very serious concern to the state government, before Ramadan began, we warned everyone to observe the tenets of his or her religion, without forcing it on anyone or taking the law into their own hands,” he said when he visited the victim in the hospital.
“This is a case of which people have taken the law into their own hands and I have directed the commissioner of police to make sure that the boys that did this are arrested and prosecuted for what they have done.”
Samuel Aruwan, spokesman of the governor, also issued a statement on the incident.
“There is no compulsion in religion. It is a free country, and that means no imposition of faith or religious practices on anyone,” the statement read.
“We sympathize with our fellow citizen, Francis Emmanuel. We have assured him that we will not allow anybody to violate his right, or that of any other citizen. The Kaduna State Government is resolute in its stand that all criminals, including those who try to hide under Christianity or Islam, will be tackled and prosecuted.”
Source: BreakingTimes
