Kano cleric, Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasir Kabara, has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), accusing the judiciary and government authorities of deliberately blocking his appeals against a death sentence handed down for alleged blasphemy.
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In a 14-page “Letter of Further Complaint” received at the Supreme Court on March 26 and sighted by our reporter, Kabara insists his conviction was not only unjust but also politically orchestrated to silence him.
He claims powerful figures within Nigeria and foreign actors plotted to transform him into an “Ayatollah Khomeini–style leader” in Nigeria, a role he says he rejected, leading to his persecution.
Kabara was convicted by an Upper Sharia Court in Kano in December 2022 and sentenced to death by hanging for alleged blasphemous remarks against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The ruling sparked widespread debate in Kano, where religious sensitivities run deep. He has since been moved to the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje, Abuja.
In his petition, Kabara alleged that his appeals have been suppressed.
He said he filed his notice of appeal in December 2022 and subsequent motions in 2024, but claims the judiciary deliberately stalled or destroyed his filings.
He accused appellate judges of altering dates and misrepresenting his submissions to favor the state.
The cleric also alleged that his refusal to cooperate with a plan to make him a revolutionary figure akin to Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini triggered attacks from political and religious leaders.
Kabara also alleged foreign influence where he recounted meetings with Iranian envoys and Nigerian officials, alleging attempts to recruit him into a foreign-backed agenda.
He claims he was offered large sums of money, including contracts worth up to ₦500 million ‘, to cooperate, which he rejected.
He also accused former Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, of orchestrating his ordeal, including sending armed forces to invade his home and mosque.
He also alleged collusion between government lawyers and judges to tamper with his case records.
His trial, he argued, violated Section 38(1) of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
Perhaps the most striking are Kabara’s claims that he was deceived into drinking a “mixed liquid” allegedly linked to a plot to transform him into a revolutionary leader.
He also alleged that after refusing to cooperate, Kano’s former governor Abdullahi Ganduje publicly likened him to the infamous Maitatsine, a radical preacher whose sect sparked deadly riots in the 1980s.
Kabara’s petition concludes with a plea to the CJN to intervene, describing himself as a “patriot imprisoned for five years without committing any crime.”
He insists his death has been declared lawful through a “flawed judgment” and warns that his case represents a grave miscarriage of justice.
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