On Friday, Abbakar Affan, whose social media profiles suggest he was a soldier with the Nigerian Army, threatened to kill Martins Vincent Otse, a social media influencer known as VeryDarkMan, if he “commits what Deborah did in Sokoto State”.
On May 12, 2022, Deborah Samuel was publicly stoned and burnt to death by a group of unruly students and Islamic extremists at the Shehu Shagari College of Education over an allegation of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammed (SAW) on a WhatsApp group.
Recently, 16 men identified as northern hunters were burnt alive in Uromi, Edo State. Their deaths caused national outrage and demands for justice.
On Friday, Otse reminded the public about the need for justice to be done in the case of Deborah Samuel in the same vein.
“Arresting and prosecuting the killers of Deborah would bring justice and unity to Nigeria to a large extent. Fish out Deborah’s killers just like the Uromi 16 killers were arrested. I stand for justice,” Otse posted on his X handle.
The social media influencer attached a collage picture of the victim and one of her killers at the scene of the killing to the post.
Nigerians on X engaged the post in hundreds, echoing Otse’s sentiment.
However, Affan quoted the post with a direct threat to the influencer. Affan said he would kill Otse if he did what Deborah Samuel was accused of “today”.
“If, today, you committed what Deborah did in Sokoto, I’ll find you and send you where she’s now,” Affan posted, adding a cartoon depicting different levels of reactions to mob killings in Lagos, Sokoto and Edo. His post is archived here.
“The hypocrisy of the animal we share country (sic) with. Bunch of gays,” Affan added.
WHAT AFFAN’S DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS SAY ABOUT HIM
The quote has garnered over 411,000 impressions. Curiously, over 1,647 accounts have liked it, suggesting an impressive number of people shared Affan’s extremist sentiment.
A peep into his X profile showed that he spent four years in the northeast with Nigerian troops combating Boko Haram terrorists.
Boko Haram and ISIS terrorists got recruits by twisting and manipulating Islam, Affan said in an article posted by Strike Source, a security news website. The website was unsafe at press time because its secure site lock (SSL) certificate had expired.
“Many of their [ISIS] recruits are Nigerians from neighboring countries that speak Kanuri. They twist the words of the Koran and take advantage of the lack of education. By using a faith as a weapon, they tell them that the military is the enemy because they don’t follow their version of Islam, and that we are pagans,” Strike Source quoted Affan to have said.
On March 19, he shared that he had quit his job in the army.
On his LinkedIn profile, he described himself as a former soldier who enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 2012:
“I’m Abubakar Affan, a dedicated and highly skilled special forces officer of the AFS with a passion for counter-terrorism operations and combating extremism. With nearly a decade of experience in the Armed Forces, I take immense pride in serving my country and contributing to the safety and security of the nation.
“I embarked on my journey in the military in 2012, enlisting in the Nigeria Army Armed Forces. My foundational military training at the prestigious Nigeria Army Depot in Zaria laid the groundwork for my subsequent growth as a specialized operative.
“For the past six years, I have been actively deployed in counter-terrorism operations in northern Nigeria, engaging and neutralizing extremist groups with unwavering determination. Throughout the service, I Abubakar has had the honor of being part of various Special Forces units, honing, skills and expertise in tackling complex security challenges.”
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