Rhoda Jatau Languishes In Bauchi Jail 18 months After Protesting Murder of Deborah Samuel by Sokoto Fanatics

Bauchi State-based health care worker, Rhoda Jatau, will remain in jail, extending her already harrowing 18 months incarceration after her no case submission before a High Court in Bauchi State was thrown out on Monday to the dismay of human rights observers and the international community.

Ms Jatau was arrested by the State Security Service in May 2020 after she shared a video that condemned the lynching of Deborah Samuel, a Christian college student accused of blasphemy and set ablaze in daylight by Islamic fanatics in Sokoto. She is facing charges of inciting public disturbance, “exciting contempt of religious creed,” and cyberstalking.

The gravity of the charges is further accentuated by the fact that the “contempt” charge serves as the civil equivalent of blasphemy under Islamic Sharia law, a legal paradigm often politically enforced outside general constitutional provisions.