The Court of Appeal in Kano will on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, deliver judgement on the appeal filed by 22-year-old musician Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who was sentenced to death by hanging in 2020 after being convicted of blasphemy. Sharif-Aminu belongs to the Tijaniyya order, a popular Sufi Islamic order across North and West Africa. 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.
The death sentence was passed on Sharif-Aminu by a Sharia court, which was overturned by a high court. It, however, denied the musician bail and ordered his re-trial before another Shari’a court judge due to irregularities in the original trial.