Photo: Mallam Kabara Abduljabbar, sentenced to death by hanging.
A Kano State Upper Sharia Court has sentenced an Islamic cleric, Kabara Abduljabbar, to death by hanging for blasphemy.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, the presiding judge, Mallam Ibrahim Yola, held that the defendant was guilty of all the charges levelled against him by the prosecution bordering on blasphemy.
He said. “I am convinced that the prosecution counsel has done their part and proven their points beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The judge also ordered the state government to seize two mosques belonging to the convict.
He also ordered the media to desist from featuring any of the convict’s teachings and pictures.
The judge further gave the convict 30 days within which to appeal the judgment or forfeit his right to life and be executed.
Abduljabbar was standing trial on allegations bordering on blasphemous comments against the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
He was first charged in July 2021 by the Kano State government.
Meanwhile, a mild drama ensued in court following the cleric’s conviction prior to his sentencing when the judge asked the cleric if he had any plea to tell the court.
Immediately after the judge asked the question, the cleric’s supposed counsel, Aminu Abubakar, stood up and prayed the Court to accord leniency to the convict saying that he did what he did out of ignorance.
Abduljabbar however immediately stood up and countered the lawyer’s submission, saying he did not know the lawyer and that it was the first time he was seeing him.
“I don’t know him. This is the first time I am seeing him. He should not be allowed to speak on my behalf. I can and should be allowed to speak for myself,” he said.
However, the judge insisted that he knew the lawyer, adding that he was known to the court as the convict’s counsel.
An apparently enraged Abduljabbar discountenanced the judge’s claim and pointedly accused him of bias, saying,
“My lord, after I heard how you twisted all my evidence, you turned around all my submissions upside down, you have assigned words to me that I have never uttered.
“Deliver your judgement, I am not asking for leniency at all. I want all my followers to know that I will die a hero and I don’t want you to do me any favour or grant me leniency.
“This is my last word. Assalamu Alaikum!”
