‘It Undermines Child Right’ – UNICEF Fumes Over Sentencing Of Teenager To 10 Years Imprisonment In Kano

• Says sentence contradicts United Nations convention on child rights

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has kicked against the sentencing of a 13-year-old boy, Umar Farouq, 10 years in prison for blasphemy by Kano state government.

The organisation asks the state government to, as a matter of urgency, reversed the judgement.

The world Child right protection agency made its position known in a statement by  UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins.

It averred that the sentence runs contrary to the United Nations convention on the rights of the child, which Nigeria ratified in 1991.

A Sharia court in Kano convicted Farouq after he was accused of using “disparaging language on Allah” during a disagreement with his friend.

Farouq was sentenced by Aliyu Kanu, the same judge who passed a death sentence on Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, a musician, “for blasphemy”.

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Hawkins condemned the sentence of Farouk, saying it undermines child rights principles.

“The sentencing of this child –13-year-old Omar Farouk to 10 years in prison with menial labour is wrong,” he said in a statement.

“It also negates all core underlying principles of child rights and child justice that Nigeria and by implication, Kano State – has signed on to.

“The sentence is in contravention of the United Nations convention on the rights of the child, which Nigeria ratified in 1991. It is also a violation of the African charter on the rights and welfare of the child – which Nigeria ratified in 2001, and Nigeria’s Child Rights Act 2003, which domesticates Nigeria’s international obligations to protect children’s right to life, survival and development.”