INTRODUCTION
Mrs Christiana Oluwatoyin joined the Gombe State Government a few years ago and was posted to teach at the Government Day Secondary School Gandu. In addition to the teaching commission she was appointed as the Discipline Mistress of the school. She had tendered her resignation and the 21st of March was to be her last day at the school. Her husband had secured a job appointment at the Federal Medical Centre in Abeokuta of Ogun State. Her husband was to pick her from Gandu in the last week of March.
BUILD UP
She reported for duty as usual on the 21st Wednesday March 2007 for final official duty as invigilator for the End of Term exam. The school authorities had decided that a Christian teacher would invigilate the Islamic Religious knowledge exam and a Muslim would invigilate the Christian Religious Knowledge exam. She was appointed to invigilate the IRK exams for SS1. She distributed the question papers and announced the commencement of the paper. A few minutes into the session she observed that Fatsuma a female student was copying answers from a book concealed in a newspaper. Confiscating the newspapers and its hidden contents she dumped the lot on the teacher’s desk and some slips of paper containing Arabic writings floated to the floor. They were later confirmed to be pages of the Hadith and Koran. No sooner had the female student been apprehended for the malpractice than she stood to her feet and began to scream Allahu Ahkbar! Allahu Ahkbar! The cheating female ran out of the classroom as the others joined her in the chant. The whole school was thrown into confusion as a result.
INITIAL REACTION
When Mrs Christiana Oluwatoyin observed the female student raising a false alarm, she decided to report the incident to the school principal Mallam Sadiq Mohammed. She also telephoned her husband informing him of all developments in the school. He in turn alerted a friend in the Gombe metropolis and the family friend promptly turned up in the school premises with uniformed police men but was rebuffed by the principal who said everything was under control. As soon as the policemen retired the Muslim students mobilized a huge crowd and demanded that Christiana be released to them by the principal. When threatened that his office would be burnt the Principal came out with Christiana in tow to face the mob. The Principal was helpless when the students seized her and could only look on in horror.
SWIFT INJUSTICE
The students tied a rope on her neck and tied it to her legs in a peculiar fashion. She was stripped naked while some went to burn her car. She was then beaten thoroughly and the first report said that a twelve year old boy cut her throat with a knife but further investigations revealed that a popular terrorist known as "Angel of Death" came in to supervise the murder before the others took their turns in cutting her. The spare tire of her car was hooked around her body and set ablaze by the students. The mob then headed towards the house where her 10 month old baby was usually kept. The intention was to kill her baby as well.
THE INFANT CHILD
A brother had run ahead of them to alert the household and a brave woman was persuaded to wear a hijab and conceal the 10 month baby in her dress. This was done and the baby was taken to safety passing through the mob. When the mob of Muslim students realized that their ambition had been thwarted they administered a thorough beating to the brother and he was hospitalized n the Federal Medical Centre Gombe. The State Governor has since set up a panel of inquiry into the religious disturbance comprising of a Muslim majority. The late Christiana Oluwatoyin’s family was buried on the 24th of March 2007 in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
