Nigeria releases five suspected murderers of pastor's wife
A court in the Nigerian city of Kano ordered the release of five people suspected of killing a pastor's wife. The wife had been accused of blasphemy.
Bridget Agbahime, 74, wife of Deeper Life Bible Church pastor Mike Agbahime, was attacked on June 2 because of blasphemy allegations, World Watch Monitor reported.
Several witnesses disputed the accusation of blasphemy against the pastor's wife. One witness recounted that Agbahime only asked a young man who was performing a ritual Islamic cleansing in front of her shop to move away.
The man reportedly screamed that she blasphemed against the prophet, which incited the crowd to carry out the attack. Some reportedly tried to rescue Agbahime but they were overwhelmed by the mob.
The Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice issued a directive for the release of Dauda Ahmed, Abdulmumeen Mustafa, Zubairu Abubakar, Abdullahi Abubakar and Musa Abdullahi on Nov. 3, stating that there is no case against the suspects.
"We received the case diary from the police on June 8 and having gone through the case diary, the attorney-general of the state evaluated the facts in accordance with sections 130 and 150 of the criminal procedure code," the directive stated.
"The legal advice presented to the court, dated June 24, states that there is no case to answer as the suspects are all innocent, and orders the court to discharge all the suspects," it continued.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemned the release of the suspects and warned that the move could embolden religious fanatics to freely attack Christians across the country.
Dr. Joseph Ajujungwa, the CAN secretary in Enugu State, expressed his disappointment regarding the decision.
"An innocent woman was murdered in cold blood and we had expected that at least to show its disapproval of any form of mindless killing, the state government would prosecute this matter judiciously but we have been totally disappointed," he said.
He called on the Federal Government and the South-East governors to reverse the decision and ensure justice for the Agbahime family.