A Plateau-based Nigerian cleric, Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, has reacted to the killing of a mathematics teacher in Oyo State by terrorists, after they reportedly discovered a Bible-related image on his phone while he was in captivity.
In a post shared on X, Dachomo described the victim who was among those abducted last week in some schools in Oyo as a dedicated educator who devoted his life to teaching children and shaping their future through education.
“This man was a mathematics teacher in Nigeria. Not a fighter. Not a criminal. Not a threat to anyone,” Dachomo wrote.
“He was a simple man who dedicated his entire life to teaching children. Every morning he walked into a classroom carrying books, lessons, and dreams for the future of young students. He spent years helping children understand numbers, solve problems, and believe they could become something great in life.”
According to the cleric, the teacher was abducted alongside more than 100 innocent people and fellow teachers during a terrorist attack.
“He was the kind of teacher parents trusted with their children. The kind of man students respected and loved. A man whose hands were made for writing on blackboards, not for carrying weapons,” he added.
Dachomo lamented the worsening insecurity in the country, saying even teachers were no longer safe in Nigeria.
“But in today’s Nigeria, even a teacher is no longer safe,” he stated.
The cleric alleged that while in captivity, the terrorists found a picture of the teacher with a Bible on his phone and decided to execute him.
“Reports say the terrorists saw a picture of him with a Bible on his phone. A Bible… the Word of God… became enough reason for them to take his life,” Dachomo claimed.
“And then they slaughtered him. Not in secret. Not away from people’s eyes. But in front of the very children he once taught in school.”
He further described the emotional trauma the incident may have caused the children who reportedly witnessed the killing.
The Deceased
“Can you imagine the terror in those children’s faces? Can you imagine young students watching the man who taught them mathematics being butchered before their eyes?” he wrote.
“Can you imagine the screams, the tears, the fear that will follow them for the rest of their lives? Those children may never sleep peacefully again. They may never forget the sound of terror. They may never erase the image of their teacher dying helplessly before them.”
Questioning the motive behind the killing, Dachomo said the teacher’s only offence was educating children and carrying a Bible.
“What offence did this man commit? Was teaching children now a crime? Was carrying a Bible now worthy of death?” he asked.
“Why take the life of a man who spent his years building the future of children? Why murder a teacher whose only weapon was education? Why destroy innocent lives while the world watches in silence?”
The cleric also decried what he described as the continuous persecution of Christians and attacks on innocent communities across Nigeria.
“Nigeria is bleeding every single day. Christians are being persecuted. Villages are attacked. Pregnant women are murdered. Fathers are slaughtered. Mothers are left widowed. Children are becoming orphans overnight. Churches are filled with tears instead of joy,” he wrote.
