FOUNDATION for RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Yahaya Sharif-Aminu’s Detention Violates Human Rights. The Foundation for Religious Freedom (FRF) welcomes the recent publication of Opinion No. 32/2024 by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. This landmark decision sheds light on the injustice suffered by Yahaya Sharif-Aminu and confirms FRF’s long-held position: his arrest, trial, and continued detention v...

It is alarming that whilst Mr. Yahaya Sharif-Aminu has been languishing in jail for over four years trying to prove his innocence and also to challenge the constitutionality of the Sharia law as it is currently being practised in Kano State, a lawmaker seeks to expand the scope of the Sharia Law by removing the … Continue reading "Much Ado About The Sharia Law"...

On Thursday, 24th October 2024, the House of Representatives rejected a bill seeking to amend the Federal Constitution by expanding the scope for Sharia Law. The 1999 (Amended) Constitution permits States to enact Shariah provisions, but this right is explicitly limited to personal law, such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. The bill, sponsored by Bauchi … Continue ...

Today, United Nations experts urged Nigerian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Yahaya Sharif-Aminu. On August 10, 2020, an Upper Shariah Court in Kano State, Nigeria, sentenced 22, year-old Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, to death by hanging on charges of blasphemy. Sharif-Aminu was tried without legal representation after being held incommunicado for six months. The ...

Yesterday, armed officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invaded the Kano residence of Justice Ita Mbaba, Presiding Judge of the Kano Court of Appeal. The alarming, unexpected raid took place at 5:00 am in the hours of darkness. Justice Mbaba was one of three judges who heard our appeal against the decision … Continue reading "Appeal Court Judge&#...