SW News: A Nigerian artiste has moved the Supreme Court of the nation to reverse a death sentence that was given to him in 2020 for blasphemy. It was in August of that year Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who follows the Sufi version of Islam, was accused of disrespecting Prophet Mohammad in a court in Kano state.

ADF International, a legal organization with a religious foundation, is supporting Sharif-Aminu in his appeal. The group claims that Sharif-Aminu was convicted in 2020 after exchanging audio messages of a song he wrote on WhatsApp that the court found to be disrespectful toward Islam’s prophet. It is also said that he was without legal counsel at the time. He is currently facing a retrial, where he can once more be sentenced to death, even though his initial conviction was reversed in 2021. He's currently being held without bond.

According to ADF International, his Supreme Court appeal could result in the repeal of Northern Nigeria's blasphemy laws, allowing Christians, minority Muslims, and others to express their faith with greater freedom and protection from the violence that blasphemy accusations frequently bring about.

There are blasphemy laws in at least 12 states in northern Nigeria that adhere to Sharia law. The BBC said that Sharia courts can sentence someone to death, amputation, or even whipping, depending on the crime.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with a nearly equal number of Christians and Muslims. Nigerian Christians, particularly those in the north of the country, have endured years of severe property devastation, deaths, and kidnappings, frequently at the hands of Islamic extremist outfits.

In Nigeria, incidents of blasphemy-related violence have a long history. A Muslim mob killed and burned the body of Deborah Yakubu, a Christian college student, in May after beating and stoning her. It supposedly started when she claimed that Jesus Christ gave her the ability to do well on a test through WhatsApp messaging. That murder occurred at Sokoto, northern Nigeria, and the seat of the sultan, who is the supreme religious figurehead of Nigeria's 100 million Muslims. Later that week, rioters stormed additional Christian-owned buildings and ransacked a Catholic Church compound in Sokoto.