The suspects were fellow students of the deceased.
They were docked at a Sokoto Chief Magistrate’s Court for their alleged participation in the crime and pleaded not guilty to the crime.
Prosecutor Insp. Khalil Musa told the court that investigation was in progress as Deborah’s corpse was still in a morgue at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.
Leading a team of 34 lawyers, the defence counsel, Prof. Mansur Ibrahim, applied for their bail on liberal terms, citing constitutional provisions and sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law.
However, the trial judge (name withheld for security reasons), reserved ruling on the bail application and ordered the accused to be remanded at a correctional centre.
Before she was lynched, Deborah was accused of denigrating Islam on a WhatsApp chat platform set up by her course mates. She was subsequently violently killed and set on fire.
Following the arrest of the suspects, violent street protests followed, with the protesters demanding their immediate release by security operatives.
In reaction, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal imposed a 24-hour curfew on Sokoto metropolis on Saturday. He relaxed the curfew on Monday to dusk to dawn.