THE United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has condemned the judgment of an Upper Sharia Court in Kano State, sentencing a 13-year-old boy, Umar Farouq, to 10 years in prison.
Farouq, the court held, is to the early years of his youth behind bars for making derogatory statements about Allah in an argument with a friend.
He was convicted on August 10, 2020, by Aliyu Kanu, the same judge who sentenced a Musician, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, to death for blaspheming Prophet Mohammed.
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In a statement in reaction to the judgment, the USCIRF condemned the blasphemy laws in Nigeria.
The USCIRF, an independent, bipartisan Federal Government agency established by the US Congress to monitor, analyse, and report threats to religious freedom abroad, also condemned the death sentence handed to Sharif-Aminu for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed.
USCIRF Commissioner, Frederick Davie, stated, “It is unconscionable that Sharif-Aminu is facing a death sentence merely for expressing his beliefs artistically through music. The US Senate should work swiftly to pass Resolution 458, which calls for the global repeal of heresy, blasphemy, and apostasy laws.”
