A 22-year-old singer, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, has been sentenced to death by hanging for blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.
The Presiding Judge of a Kano Shari’a Court, Khadi Aliyu Muhammad Kani, on Monday found Sharif-Aminu guilty of blasphemy through a song he circulated on WhatsApp in March.
The song had infuriated some protesters who burned down the singer’s family home and led a procession to the Kano Hisbah Command’s headquarters.
After his arrest and arraignment, the convict did not deny the charges, a stand which led to the death sentence.
Judge Kani however said he could appeal against the verdict.
Sharif-Aminu, a follower of Tijjaniya sect, is a member of Faidha group who are known for their preference of Ibrahim Nyass (a famous Senegalese Islamic scholar) over Prophet Muhammad.
It would be recalled that only one of the death sentences passed by Nigeria’s Sharia courts has been carried out since they were reintroduced in 1999 – a man convicted of killing two children and their mother and was subsequently hanged in 2002.