Stabbed Sokoto Cleric Discharged From Hospital As Police Warn Against Reprisal

The police in Sokoto said yesterday prominent Islamic cleric, Malam Musa Lukuwa, who was stabbed by a man after Juma’at prayers on Friday has been discharged from hospital after treatment.

The command called for calm and warned residents against reprisals over the stabbing at Lukuwa Mosque in the Mabera area of Sokoto metropolis shortly after the cleric led the congregational prayer.

Police spokesman DSP Ahmad Rufai said a young man identified as “Mai Barewa” entered the mosque and attacked the cleric with a sharp knife, inflicting deep cuts on his neck and left hand.

“The assailant inflicted deep cuts on the victim’s neck and left hand. He was immediately overpowered by an angry mob and lynched before security operatives arrived at the scene,” Rufai stated on Friday.
The commissioner of police, Hayatu Hassan Shaffa, described the mob action as jungle justice and urged residents to allow due process.

“It is imperative that we allow the law to take its course to ensure justice is served appropriately,” Shaffa said.

The command said security personnel have been deployed to Mabera and other flashpoints to maintain law and order while investigations into both the stabbing and the mob killing continue. No arrest has been made in connection with the lynching.

Police sources linked the attack to a controversial sermon delivered by Lukuwa days earlier. The cleric had cited a Hadith that drew condemnation from some scholars, particularly from the Sufi Tariqa order, who described it as offensive to the parents of Prophet Muhammad.