Alleged Blasphemy: Court Orders Retrial Of Singer’s Case; Affirms Blasphemy

By Akinwale Kasali

The hope of Kano Singer, Aminu Yahaya Sharif hangs in the balance, as it is still a long walk to freedom for him following the ruling by the Court of Appeal, Kano Division, on Wednesday, affirming the judgment of Kano State High Court.

It has ordered a retrial of a blasphemy case against Sharif, who was sentenced earlier to death for alleged derogatory remarks against the  Holy Prophet Muhammad.

It would be recalled that Sharif, a resident of Sharifai in Kano was arrested and arraigned before an Upper Shari’a Court for committing blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad in a song he circulated via social media in 2020.

He was charged under section 382 (B) of Shari’a Penal Code Law of Kano 2000 and consequently sentenced to death by an Upper Shari’a Court Filin Hockey in Kano.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, his Counsel, Barrister Kola Alapinni, approached the Kano State Appeal Court Division, asking it to quash the judgment of the lower Court, on the ground that the convict was not represented by a lawyer, which is contrary to the doctrine of fair hearing and natural justice.

Alapinni also urged the Court to quash the charge against Sharif, alleging that the Sharia Penal Code Law contravened the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

In its judgement delivered on 21 January 2021, the  Appeal Division presided over Justice Nura Sagir ordered for a fresh trial of the case with full representation of his counsel.

Against the judgement of the Kano State High Court, the Appeal Division, Sharif, again filed an appeal before Appeal Court, Kano Division.

After  the submissions and legal arguments of both appellant and defendant on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal affirmed the decision of the Kano State High Court.

Similarly, the court upheld the legality of Shari’a Penal Code Law, 2000.

It was also recognised as a capital offence punishable by death under Kano State Shari’a Code Law 2000.

The three-man panel of justices that passed the judgement include Justice I G Mbaba, Justice B M Ugo and Justice Abubakar Muaz Lamido.

It was gathered that Justice Mbaba dissented with the majority while Justices Ugo and Lamido upheld the judgement of the Kano State High Court and consequently ordered for a retrial.

The State ’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Musa Lawan, described the judgement as a victory for the entire Kano citizens.

He said the Appeal Court has fully recognized Kano State Shari’a Penal Code Law, 2000.

The United Nation, UN, Human Rights experts had called on Nigerian authorities to immediately release the 22-year-old singer, who was sentenced to death over an allegedly blasphemous song shared on social media.

The experts had, in a joint statement titled: ‘UN rights experts urge Nigeria to overturn death sentence for singer, who shared song on WhatsApp’, asked for his release.

The experts called for the death sentence to be overturned and for the authorities to guarantee his safety, due process and rights, while appealing his conviction.

“We are deeply concerned over the serious lack of due process in Mr Sharif-Aminu’s case so far, especially reports that he has been held incommunicado, and that he did not have access to a lawyer during his initial trial, a trial that was not open to the public,” they had said months back.