Nine people have been sentenced to death in Kano for making blasphemous and inciting statements.
The Upper Sharia Court in the city of Kano handed down death sentences to a Sufi Muslim cleric and eight of his followers for remarks they made about the Prophet Muhammad last month.
The comments, made during a religious ceremony, sparked anger and violence in the city.
Court clerk Alhaji Nasuru said the nine, including one woman, were “sentenced to death in accordance with sections 110 and 302 of the Sharia penal code”.
Four other followers of the cleric, Aminu Abdul Nyass, were acquitted, he added.
The defendants were arrested when violence broke out in the Makwarari district of Kano as they marked the birthday of the former leader of the Tijaniyya Sufi order, Ibrahim Nyass.
An angry crowd attacked the ceremony and later burnt down Abdul Nyass’ home, police said at the time.
Abdul Nyass belongs to a separate branch of Tijaniyya, some of whose beliefs are considered heretical because of their different interpretation of some basic Islamic principles.
The head of the Kano state Sharia (Islamic law) police, known locally as the Hisbah, welcomed the verdicts.
“We are happy the Sharia court handed the death sentences to the nine people who made the blasphemous statements against the Holy Prophet,” said Aminu Daurawa.
The trial was held in secret to avoid violence, after crowds set fire to a section of the Sharia court on the defendants’ first appearance on May 22.
The judgment still has to be approved by Kano governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, added Daurawa, who warned the sentence should remind Muslims that blasphemy attracts the ultimate penalty.
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