Malik Yahya/
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, has thrown his weight behind the death penalty passed on a musician by a Kano Sharia Court for blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad.
The 22-year-old musician, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, was sentenced to death by hanging by an upper Sharia court in the Hausawa Filin Hockey area of the state, yesterday, after he was pronounced guilty of committing blasphemy for a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March.
The decision has attracted widespread condemnation with many calling on the federal government to intervene to ensure that the judgment is not carried out.
But Ahmad, in a tweet via his verified handle, today, said he supported the decision of the court because it complies with the tenets of Islam.
He wrote, “I cant pretend or keep silent. I support the death penalty for BLASPHEMY. That’s my belief and I do not and will never support #SaveKanoNine.”
Judge Khadi Aliyu Muhammad Kani said Sharif-Aminu who did not deny the charges, could appeal against the verdict.
The singer who is currently in detention, had gone into hiding after he composed the song.
Protesters had burnt down his family home and gathered outside the headquarters of the Islamic police, known as the Hisbah, demanding action against him.
Only one of the death sentences passed by Sharia courts has been carried out since they were reintroduced in the Muslim-majority northern parts of the country in 1999.
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