Blasphemy: Disciples Of Kano Cleric Sentenced To Death Allege Gang Up Against His Appeal
Disciples of controversial Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara, who was sentenced to death by hanging for blasphemy against the prophet of Islam, have warned against a renewed gang-up against his appeal against the judgment.
The followers of the sheikh, while addressing a press conference at the NUJ Press Centre in Kano on Sunday, condemned what they described as a gang-up by “antagonists” working against efforts to get justice for the cleric in the ongoing appeal against his death sentence.
Naija News House recalls that a Sharia Court in Kano had passed judgment on him, sentencing him to death by hanging, but his followers have since filed an appeal before a High Court of Justice for their dissatisfaction with the previous judgment in line with the right of appeal enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
His followers, who spoke through Ibrahim Abdullahi Warure, said it had come to their notice that “the same clerics who ganged up to make the first allegations” that caused Sheikh Abduljabbar’s arraignment in court are now issuing threats to the incoming administration of Kano State and the court where the appeal was filed that they dare not release him.
They alleged that the antagonists, by issuing threats to the government and the court, are not willing to allow justice to prevail in Sheikh Abduljabbar’s case and are hell-bent on persecuting him and denying him justice and fair judgment at all costs as a citizen of the nation.
“We condemn their endemic campaign of calumny against our revered sheikh and their threat to the court, which we consider contempt of court and government.
“We also view it as a sinister plan to disrupt the peace of the state and country, should Sheikh Abduljabbar eventually triumph in court,” Warure stated.
The group called on security agencies and relevant authorities to “call the unscrupulous clerics to order by asking them to desist from these hate speeches against us and our religious leader, for we are [also] bona fide citizens of this country.”
