Kano cleric bags death sentence over blasphemy

An Upper Sharia Court sitting in Kano State has sentenced the controversial Islamic cleric, Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara, to death by hanging.

The embattled Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara, a Nigerian cleric who was arrested and detained by the state government for alleged blasphemy had been denied bail by a Kano Higher Shari’a Court in Kofar Kudu.

Kabara is being tried for allegedly making blasphemous statements against Prophet Muhammad. According to the charge, his statements are capable of disrupting public peace.

Abduljabbar was charged on July 16, 2021 by the Kano state government before Justice Sarki Yola over alleged blasphemy and incitement.

Abduljabbar Kabara is famous for his controversial religious commentaries and statements, which some Muslims have regarded as sacrilegious to Prophet Muhammad.

The state information commissioner, Malam Muhammed Garba, had in a statement said the charge followed the receipt of the first information report from the police by the Office of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, which prepared charges against the cleric.

Justice Yola had rejected the cleric’s bail application, citing the state’s peace and his safety as justifications.

The judge, on Thursday sentenced the controversial Islamic cleric to death by hanging.

The judge, Mallam Ibrahim Sarki Yola who delivered the conviction in a court session which lasted over two hours, gave the convict 30 days to appeal the judgment or forfeit his right to appeal.

In his sentencing, the judge orders the state government to seize the two mosques belonging to him, while he called on all media to desist from using any of Abduljabbar’s teachings and pictures.

Before giving his verdict, the judge said, “I am convinced that the prosecution counsel has done their part and proven their points beyond a reasonable doubt.”

He thereafter convicted the defendant of all the charges levelled against him.

Kabara was standing trial on the issue bordering on blasphemous statements against the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), an act capable of inciting public peace. Abduljabbar was charged in July 2021 by the Kano State government.

Until the Judge pronounced his last statement, embattled Abduljabbar, who appeared in the court for a final verdict in his 15-month-long trial, was calm as ever before, seated on a chair, relaxed, counting his rosary with his fingers (supplicating) and listening attentively.

Barrister Aminu Ado Abubakar, who stood as the defence counsel, when asked, if he has anything to tell the court, prayed to the Court to accord leniency to the accused person for he did what he did out of ignorance.

However, Abduljabbar stood up stating that he did not know the lawyer and that it was the first time he was seeing him.