Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Nigeria
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Sufi
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Appeal: Accepted: Death Overturned
Sentence: Originally Death
Date of Detainment: March//2020
Date of Sentencing: August/10/2020
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Blasphemy (General) Blasphemy (Religious Figures) Religious Expression Singing, Playing, & Producing Religious Songs & Music
Nature of Charges: Blasphemy
Yahaya Sharif-Aminu is detained for his religious expression.
In March 2020, authorities arrested Sharif-Aminu, a musician and follower of the Sufi Tijaniyyah Order, after a series of audio messages circulated via WhatsApp were made public in which he is said to have “praised an imam from the Tijaniya Muslim brotherhood (Ibrahim Niasse) to the extent it elevated him above the Prophet Muhammed.” Sharif-Aminu went into hiding following backlash for his recording; protestors burned down his family home reportedly on March 4. He was later arrested and charged with one count of insulting the religious creed (Sec. 382 (6) Kano State Sharia Penal Code Law 2000).
On August 10, 2020, the Hausawa Filin Hockey Upper-Sharia Court in a closed trial found Sharif-Aminu guilty and sentenced him to death. Sharif-Aminu was reportedly held incommunicado while detained.
In January 2021, a higher court in Kano state overturned Sharif-Aminu’s conviction and ordered his case to be retried due to irregularities in the original trial.
In August 2022, the Kano State Appeals Court affirmed Sharif-Aminu's order for retrial.
In November 2022, Sharif-Aminu filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.
USCIRF Commissioners Frederick Davie and Tony Perkins, Op-ed, October 17, 2021
USCIRF Issue Update: Kano State October 2021
USCIRF Event: FoRB Victims List and Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project Update, February 25, 2021
USCIRF Country Update: Nigeria December 2020
"UN rights experts urge Nigeria to overturn death sentence for singer who shared song on WhatsApp" UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights