The European Parliament has condemned in the strongest terms, the Nigeria’s Appeal Court judgment which sentenced a Nigerian musician, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, to death for alleged blasphemy. SaharaReporters in 2020 reported that the musician who is said to be a member of the Islamic Tijjaniya sect and Faidha group, was accused of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad in one of his songs.
Sharif-Aminu is asking the apex court to declare that the offence of blasphemy is not recognised in Nigerian law. Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, a musician sentenced to death by hanging in 2020 after being convicted of blasphemy, has approached the Supreme Court of Nigeria to challenge his conviction. This was seen in court documents filed by his…
Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, a musician sentenced to death by hanging in 2020 after being convicted of blasphemy, has approached the Supreme Court of Nigeria to challenge his conviction. This was seen in court documents filed by his counsel, Kola Alapinni Esq, which were obtained by SaharaReporters on Wednesday. According to the documents, Sharif-Aminu is asking the apex court to declare that the offence of blasphemy is not recognised in Nigerian law.
The Court of Appeal in Kano has upheld the judgement of the Kano High Court (Appeal Division), ordering the retrial of a 22-year-old musician, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who was sentenced to death by hanging in 2020 after being convicted of blasphemy by an upper Sharia court presided over by Muhammad Aliyu Kani in the state. He was accused of one count of insulting the religious creed, contrary to Section 382 (6) of the Kano State Sharia Penal Code Law of 2000, for a series of audio messages circulated via WhatsApp which became public knowledge in March 2020.