13 y.o boy is jailed for 10 years for blasphemy towards Allah in Northern Nigeria

A 13-year-old boy has been sentenced to ten years in jail for blasphemy by a court in northern Nigeria, prompting 'deep concern' from the United Nations children's organisation.

Omar Farouq was convicted by a Sharia court in Kano - a state in northwestern Nigeria - which recently handed down a death sentence to a studio assistant for blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad. Farouq's sentencing followed an accusation that he had used foul language towards Allah during an argument with a friend. The boy was convicted on August 10 and Wednesday's sentencing came after an unsuccessful appeal by lawyers for the child on September 7. 

UNICEF and Farouq's lawyer have decried the sentence, calling it unconstitutional under Nigerian law. They said it also breaks a number of international conventions on the right's of children, including the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which Nigeria ratified in 2001. Kola Alapinni, a member of Farouq's legal counsel, said his team only found out about Farouq's case when working on that of the studio assistant, Yahaya Sharif-Aminu. 'We found out they were convicted on the same day, by the same judge, in the same court, for blasphemy and we found out no one was talking about Omar, so we had to move quickly to file an appeal for him,' Alapinni told CNN. 

'Blasphemy is not recognised by Nigerian law. It is inconsistent with the constitution of Nigeria,' he added.

Culled From DailyMail.Co.Uk