Blasphemy: Why I deleted tweet condemning Deborah Samuel’s murder in Sokoto – Atiku

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, on Friday said that every tweet in his official social media handles must get his approval before publication.

Atiku, one of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirants, said this when he paid a consultative visit to Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo at the Government House, Benin. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Atiku had earlier reacted to the killing of Miss Deborah Samuel who was accused of blasphemy.

Recall that Deborah, a Christian 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto was killed for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.
Atiku, who is running for President on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, had taken to Twitter to condemn the mob action, saying, “There cannot be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Samuel was murdered and all those behind her death must be brought to justice. My condolences to her family and friends.”
The former Vice-President, however, came under threats from some Muslim northerners who threatened not to vote for him if he emerges as the Presidential candidate of the PDP.
However, Atiku later deleted the tweet amid the threats.
He took to his verified Hausa Facebook page to distance himself from the message.
Atiku stated that he deleted the message because it did not agree with his orders.
“This evening I received information that a post was made that doesn’t agree with my orders. I use this to announce that any post without A. A. is not from me. May God protect us,” he wrote in Hausa language.
The decision of the former Vice-President to delete the tweet has caused an uproar on social media as he is now trending at number one on Twitter.