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UPDATE 10/05/22: In January 2021, an Appeal Panel Court ordered a retrial for Yahaya’s case, and since then he remained in incommunicado detention without access to his lawyers, family or medical care. Finally, a date for the retrial was set for 12 May 2022. Yahaya should not be in jail nor on trial. Call for his immediate release.

23-year-old Yahaya Sharif-Aminu has been sentenced to death for sharing a song.

Yahaya is a singer from Nigeria. He’s been sentenced to death for circulating a song via a WhatsApp voice message that’s considered to be blasphemous. 

There are serious concerns about the fairness of his trial and the way charges against him have been framed. 

Now his life is at risk after a court sentenced him to death by hanging, violating Yahaya’s human rights and Nigeria’s obligations under international law. 

We know public pressure can secure Yahaya’s release, because it’s worked before. In 2015, Moses Akatugba was pardoned and released from death row in Nigeria after a successful international campaign. With your help, we can free Yahaya too.

Take action now by calling on Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to immediately and unconditionally release Yahaya Sharif-Aminu.

 

Sign the Petition

  Our Petition

 

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje
Office of the Governor
Government House
Kano
Kano State, Nigeria

Dear Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje,

We, the undersigned, wish to express our concern for Yahaya Sharif- Aminu, a 23-year-old singer sentenced to death. 

We have serious concerns about the fairness of Yahaya Sharif-Aminu’s trial and the framing of the charges. 

The imposition of the death penalty following an unfair trial violates the right to life and hasty trials undermine the ability of convicted persons to seek effective remedies for the inadequate legal representation they had received at trial. Moreover, the use of the death penalty for blasphemy violates Nigeria’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which restricts the use of the death penalty to the “most serious crimes.”

I therefore request that Your Excellency refrain from signing any execution warrant for Yahaya Sharif- Aminu and release Yahaya Sharif-Aminu immediately and unconditionally.


Yours sincerely, 

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