Critics say the swift manhunt exposes a government that acts only when political costs rise, not when Christians are killed.
By Mary Kiara
(Lagos) – For four years, Deborah Emmanuel’s murderers have walked free, but when an Islamic cleric offered 2 million naira for a pastor’s beheading, Nigeria’s security forces sprang into action – a performance, critics say.
The contrast is not lost on anyone who has followed Nigeria’s blasphemy killings. It has everything to do with politics, not piety.
Sheikh Sani Isa is now a wanted man.
In viral videos, he displayed stacks of cash and promised the reward for the beheading of Pastor Samuel, a Christian cleric in Gombe State, over alleged blasphemy.
“They have frozen my accounts, and the DSS is looking for me with armed men,” the Sheikh said in a defiant follow-up broadcast. The bounty, he insisted, remains active.
At least two bank accounts linked to the Sheikh have been frozen, security personnel have been deployed to strategic locations in Kano and neighboring states.
Pastor Samuel has been moved to an undisclosed safe location.
‘Why the Sudden Speed?’
The speed of the response stands in sharp contrast to every blasphemy killing in recent Nigerian history.
In Deborah Emmanuel’s case, 15 police officers watched for five hours as the mob stoned and set her ablaze, and did nothing. Two suspects were arrested, and then acquitted.
Anuhe Aba, a retired journalist, told TruthNigeria that the timing is not coincidental.
“The government understands another high-profile mob killing would intensify international scrutiny at a politically sensitive time. This response may reflect less a new commitment to justice than a desire to prevent another internationally damaging incident.”
Rev. Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for 19 northern states and the FCT, told TruthNigeria that CAN had to take matters into its own hands.
“We have publicly announced that anybody who touches the pastor will have the Christian Association of Nigeria to contend with,” Hayab said. “We have called the Pastor and let’s see who is coming to touch him. Enough is enough.”
“For Deborah, the police stood by and watched, this time we refused to be passive.”
Open Doors International reported that Nigeria accounted for 3,490 of the 4,849 Christians killed globally for their faith during its most recent reporting period.
“The government must also uphold the constitution, nobody has the right to kill another person because of religion,” Hayab said.
A Pattern of Impunity, a Sudden Burst of Energy
Nigeria’s blasphemy violence predates Deborah’s killing by decades.
Since 1999, at least 300 Nigerians have reportedly been killed by mobs over allegations of blasphemy, according to religious freedom researchers and civil society groups.
The pattern stretches across northern Nigeria’s twelve Sharia-implementing states.
In 2002, riots triggered by newspaper commentary about the Miss World pageant left more than 200 people dead in Kaduna.
In 2007, schoolteacher Christiana Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin was beaten; stabbed and burned to death in Gombe State after accusations she desecrated the Quran. In 2016, 74-year-old Bridget Agbahime was murdered in Kano.
In 2020, musician Yahaya Sharif-Aminu was sentenced to death for blasphemy by a Kano Sharia court.
And in 2021, a water vendor in Bauchi was beaten and burned alive outside a police station after accusations of insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Deborah’s case became a global symbol of impunity, her murderers remain free, and the police who watched were never disciplined.
Now, with the 2027 elections approaching and Nigeria designated a Country of Particular Concern for religious freedom, the calculus appears to have shifted.
‘The Issue Is Not Whether They Can Act Quickly’
Blasphemy is criminalized under Sharia law in 12 northern Nigerian states, where it can carry the death penalty, putting Nigeria among only eight countries worldwide with such provisions.
The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice ruled in April 2025 that certain provisions of the Kano State Penal Code contravene international human-rights standards, but the ruling has been ignored.
“The failure to prosecute those responsible emboldens the jihadists and further marginalizes Christian citizens,” Dede Laugesen, CEO of Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), told TruthNigeria.
But Aba, the retired journalist, cautioned against reading too much into the DSS manhunt.
“The issue is not whether the government can act quickly,” Aba said. “It is why urgency appears only after international pressure and reputational risk.”
“For years, blasphemy killings were followed by silence, delayed prosecutions, or collapsed cases. This time the state appears more concerned about the political cost of inaction.”
The Uncomfortable Question
The pastor targeted by the bounty is alive; the cleric who placed it is being hunted. Bank accounts are frozen and security personnel deployed.
Deborah Emmanuel’s family received none of that, and the 300 other victims of blasphemy mobs received none of that.
The Nigerian government has demonstrated it can move swiftly when the political price of inaction is too high. The question that lingers, as the 2027 elections approach and Washington watches, is not whether they can act.
It is why they never did before.
Mary Kiara reports on terrorism and religious freedom for TruthNigeria.
