Retrial after sharia law death penalty

KANO: A Nigerian court yesterday reserved judgment on a challenge against sharia law in the mostly Muslim northern state of Kano in a case that will test the authority of Islamic religious law in the country.

Nigeria’s constitution is neutral on religion. The country is divided between the largely Christian south and mostly Muslim north. Kano is one of the foremost states that enforces sharia law.

In 2020, a 22-year-old singer, Yahaya Aminu Sharif, was sentenced to death by Kano Sharia Court over accusations of blasphemy. The secular branch of the state’s high court ordered a retrial for Sharif. Three judges said a ruling would come before October.