5 Things To Know About Kano Cleric Sentenced To Death By Hanging

Controversial Kano Islamic cleric, Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara, was convicted earlier on Thursday and sentenced by the court to death by hanging over alleged blasphemy.

Naija News reports that the verdict was passed by an Upper Sharia Court in Kano State.

The court earlier convicted the embattled cleric after finding him guilty of the charge of blasphemy levelled against him.

The court judge, Mallam Ibrahim Sarki Yola, in his sentencing, charged all media to desist from using any of Kabara’s teachings and pictures.

The convict was thereafter given 30 days to appeal the judgment or forfeit his right to appeal.

Naija News highlights some of the things you may not know about the embattled cleric.

52-year-old Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara is a prominent scholar of the Qadiriyya Islamic sect who was accused of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

He is the son of Sheikh Nasiru Kabara, a former leader of the Qadiriyya sect of West Africa, and a younger brother of Karibullah Nasiru Kabara, the successor of their late father.

He attended ATC Gwale in Kano, before moving to Iraq to advance his studies in Islamic theology, though he always said he obtained most of his education from his father for almost 25 years of his life.

Abduljabbar was well known as a Qadiriyya follower and a Sunni scholar by Muslims communities in Nigeria, following the footsteps of his father.

Abduljabbar was held captive by Kano State Government after the Kano State Islamic scholars from Izala, Salafiyya, Tijaniyyah and Qadiriyya sects reported him to the state government.

They said they had come along “with nine blasphemy cases which were stated by Abduljabbar in his preaching towards Prophet Muhammed in video and audio formats, which will serve as a reference that Abduljabbar is making blasphemy towards Prophet Muhammed, and that if care is not taken, the blasphemy will lead to bloodshed and chaos in the State.”