Kano magistrates court sentences Islamic cleric to death by hanging for blasphemy

KANO clergyman Sheik Abduljabar Nasiru Kabara has been sentenced to death by hanging after a Kano Magistrates Court found him guilty of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed and Islam.

In a landmark judgement today,  the Kano court presided over by Justice Ibrahim Sarki Yola has found Sheik Kabara guilty on all charges filed against him by the state government. A cleric and preacher, Sheik Kabara had been accused of making unremarkable statements against the Prophet Muhammad.

Sheik Kabara, in adopting his final written addresses dated and filed on September 20, urged the court to dismiss the case filed by the Kano State government against him and order the state to apologise to him. During the course of the trial, the cleric had presented himself as a lone witness.

Opposing his argument, the prosecution counsel, Mamman Lawan-Yusufari, closed the case after four witnesses testified. This compares with the defendant who presented one witness and tendered 24 books and memory card evidence to prove his case.