Rhoda Ya’u Jatau, a 45-year-old Christian woman, has been held in a Bauchi State prison since May and is now on trial after being accused of blasphemy.
The charges against her stem from a WhatsApp message that she is alleged to have forwarded to others. The message related to the brutal murder of a young university student, Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, who was killed by fellow students on 12 May after she was accused of blasphemy.
Rhoda shared a message condemning Debora’s death with her colleagues, and Muslims who saw it accused her of blasphemy and sought to kill her. A Muslim mob stormed her house seeking to kill her on 20 May. Rhoda was then arrested by Nigeria’s secret police and has been in custody ever since.
Rhoda’s lawyer, Joshua Nasara, says she has been charged with “inciting public disturbance, exciting contempt of religious creed, and cyber-stalking”.
Efforts to secure bail for Rhoda have been “frustrated and denied by government authorities and leaders of Islamic groups in the state,” Nasara said.
Rhoda was held for two weeks before she was charged, and since then she has been held incommunicado in prison as authorities and Muslim leaders in the state delayed her trial, Nasara said.
An application for bail was filed on 20 July, after she was held the legal maximum of two months without trial, but it was not assigned to a judge until later, by which point the judge had gone on holiday, Nasara said.
“It was in August that the application was reassigned to a judge, who heard it for the first time on 11 August,” he explained.
Reverend Ishaku Dano of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) said the blasphemy charges against Rhoda are false. “She shared the WhatsApp message only as a word of caution against further violence in northern Nigeria, where Muslim mobs were wreaking havoc,” he said.
“Information we obtained from Rhoda shows that the WhatsApp message she received and shared in her group was for caution against violence, and against the use of derogatory language in addressing other people’s faith. But that was not the interpretation of the Muslims,” he continued.
“Since the incident in May 2022, there have been campaigns by Muslims for Rhoda to be killed.”
Sources: Steadfast Global, Morning Star News
Please Pray
Pray that Rhoda will receive a fair trial and that the courts will acquit Rhoda of all blasphemy charges.
Pray for Rhoda’s protection both in and out of prison.
Pray for peace in the region of northern Nigeria, especially in areas where there is tension between the Muslim and Christian communities.