A musician in Kano State has been sentenced to death by hanging for blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad.
The Kano Upper Shari’a Court sitting at Hausawa Filin Hockey sentenced 22-year-old Yahaya Sharif to death by hanging.
The judge, Aliyu Kani, gave the verdict on Monday after finding Mr. Sharif guilty as charged. He was convicted based on Section 382 (b) of Kano penal code of 2000.
Mr. Sharif, a resident of Sharifai in Kano metropolis, was accused of committing blasphemy against the prophet of Islam in a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March 2020, which he did not deny the charges.
The singer who is currently in detention had gone into hiding after he composed the song.
Following the incident, protesters burnt down the singer’s family home and led a procession to the Kano Hisbah command’s headquarters. The Hisbah is a Kano State-owned security outfit that enforces the Shariah law.
In the words of the leader of the protesters that called for the musician’s arrest in March, Idris Ibrahim, told the BBC that the judgment will serve as a warning to others “contemplating toeing Yahaya’s path”.”When I heard about the judgment I was so happy because it showed our protest wasn’t in vain.
“This [judgment] will serve as a deterrent to others who feel they could insult our religion or prophet and go scot-free,” he said.
Judge Khadi Aliyu Muhammad Kani said he could appeal against the verdict.
States across Muslim-majority northern Nigeria use both secular law and Sharia law, which does not apply to non-Muslims. Only one of the death sentences passed by Nigeria’s Sharia courts has been carried out since they were reintroduced in 1999.
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