US Makes Fresh Demand Over Singer on Death Row in Kano

According to a report by Daily Post on Friday November 13, 2026, the United States has called on Nigerian authorities to release Sufi singer Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who remains on death row in Kano State after being convicted of blasphemy, while urging the country to reconsider the enforcement of its blasphemy laws.

Hon. Riley Barnes disclosed the US position during a hearing organised by the Africa Subcommittee of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said Washington was engaging with the Nigerian government and maintaining contact with the singer’s relatives as efforts continued to secure his release.

Barnes stressed that although the United States remained concerned about Sharif-Aminu’s conviction and the laws under which he was sentenced, its broader priority was to stop attacks and violence in Nigeria.

“We are actively pressing the Nigerian government and calling the relatives of Sufi singer Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who sits on death row over blasphemy charges,” Barnes said.

He added that Washington would continue to advocate an end to the enforcement of blasphemy laws, but insisted that reducing violence remained the central measure of progress.

“The US has made it clear that the measure of success will be fewer attacks and less violence,” he stated.

Sharif-Aminu was arrested in March 2020 after sharing lyrics from a song he had written through WhatsApp. The lyrics were considered blasphemous, triggering outrage that culminated in a mob setting fire to his family’s home.

He was subsequently tried before a Sharia court in Kano State. The proceedings were conducted without legal representation for the singer, and he was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging in August 2020.

His case has remained a point of concern over the application of blasphemy laws and the treatment of religious expression in Nigeria.

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