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The US Reacts After Kano Sharia Court Jailed 13-year-old Boy For 10 Years For Making Derogatory Statements Toward Allah
The United States has blasted the ruling of an Upper Sharia Court in Kano State, after it sentenced a 13-year-old boy, Umar Farouq, to 10 years in prison for making derogatory statements toward Allah during an argument with a friend.
Farouq was convicted on August 10, 2020, by Aliyu Kanu, a Sharia court judge, and Baba-Jibo Ibrahim, the spokesman for Kano Region Justice Ministry, said the court followed due Islamic laws when passing the sentence.
Aliyu Kanu, was the same judge who sentenced a Northern based Musician, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, to death for ‘blaspheming’ against Prophet Mohammed in a song.
But the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has
faulted the judgment meted towards Umar Farouq and Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, saying the blasphemy laws in Nigeria are unconscientious.
USCIRF Commissioner, Frederick Davie, stated; “It is unconscionable that Sharif-Aminu is facing a death sentence merely for expressing his beliefs artistically through music. The US Senate should work swiftly to pass Resolution 458, which calls for the global repeal of heresy, blasphemy, and apostasy laws.”
Also the President of the African Bar Association, Mr Hannibal Uwaifo, has reacted to the sharia court ruling.
He said, “I call on the Attorney General of the Federation to step in and to stop this kind of sectional court from making a mockery of Nigeria. This is a country where people are stealing billions of naira and being given a pat on the back; then you say someone committed blasphemy, according to your own religion, and then you sentence him to death or sentence a teenager to 10 years’ imprisonment. I think we should stop making Nigeria a laughing stock.”
