Nigerians kick as Sharia court in Kano sentenced singer to death for blasphemy

A Sharia court in Kano state on Monday said it had found a 22-year-old musician, Yahaya Aminu Sharif, guilty of using derogatory expressions against the Prophet Mohammed in one of his songs and sentenced him to death by hanging.

Sharif had reportedly circulated the song on WhatsApp in March, prompting angry demonstrators to burn down his family house.

Media reports said that it wasn’t immediately clear how the lyrics violated the local blasphemy law and Sharif may appeal the verdict.

Speaking to AFP, the spokesperson for the Kano region justice ministry, Baba-Jibo Ibrahim, said that Sharif had legal representation during the trial that went on for four months.

The trial was reportedly held behind closed doors for security reasons.

Sharif is the second person to be handed a death sentence for blasphemy since several states in northern Nigeria reintroduced a stricter version of Sharia in early 2000s.

Many have also had their limbs amputated under the law.

Kano is one of the regions in the north where the Islamic law runs parallel to the state and federal justice system.

However, Nigerians have been reacting to the development and totally condemned the death sentence.

These are some of the reactions;

A man identified as “the Morris Monye factor” on Twitter said: “If the Sharia court is determined to murder a man because of Blasphemy, then Ganduje must as a matter of principle, have his hand amputated.

There is actual video of his transgressions.

The law must be fair for the high and low, the mighty and weak..”

Jr_Anemba: “I grew up in Gambia a 90% Muslim Country and I saw and witness Peaceful Islam…. Coming to Nigeria just 4yrs it’s like a complete different Religion…. Just makes me wonder…. Where did we go wrong??”

Towolawi Jamiu: “Bashir Ahmaad is not only a religious extremist and an ethnic jingoist but also a threat to human peaceful coexistence. Nigeria under @MBuhari regime is being directed by fanatics who doesn’t understand anything at all about democracy.”

Udoka Umeh: “Let Lord Lugard and his generation suffer for the next 600 years for amalgamation us with the North.”

For more reactions go to Twitter with hashtag #Bashir #Ganduje #El rufai #SaveKanoNine

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