NINE people have been sentenced to death in Kano State by a Sharia Court of Appeal in Rijiyar Lemo for blaspheming against the Prophet Mohammed after being convicted of making unguarded utterances against Islam.  

In the first such case of its kind, the court ruled that the nine were guilty of blasphemy against the prophet of Islam. Mallam Nasiru, a spokesman for the court, said that the nine people were found guilty under Section 110 and Section 382b of the Sharia Penal Court law year 2000. 

Apparently, the offences were committed in May and it resulted in a protest during which hundreds of Muslim youths torched the Sharia court. It all began when the said leader of the nine, Abdul Inyas, the leader of the Tijjaniyya sect, made unguarded statements against Prophet Mohammed during his usual preaching at the Goron Dutse area of the Kano metropolis. 

Imam Inyas and Hajiya Mairoto are among the nine sentenced to death, although it is not yet clear if they will appeal the judgement. Alkasim Abubakar, Yahya Abubakar, Isa Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar, who were arrested alongside the convicted persons, were discharged and acquitted by the court.