By Martin Cole-
Two TikTok comedians have been publicly whipped in Nigeria for making a detrimental video that a court in the northern Kano State ruled had defamed the state Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Mubarak Isah Muhammad, 26,(pictured) and Nazifi Muhammad Bala, 23, each received 20 brutal strokes of the cane for making allegedly defamatory statements about the governor, a spokesperson for Kano State Judiciary, Baba Jibo Ibrahim has confirmed.
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Although the pair asked for leniency after pleading guilty, the sitting judge ordered them to be given 20 lashes each, to pay a fine of 10,000 naira (£20) and to clean the court premises for 30 days. They were also ordered to publicly apologise to Mr Ganduje on social media.
The pair’s lawyer said they would not challenge the judgement.
Osai Ojigho, the director of Amnesty International Nigeria, condemned the ruling, saying “satirizing those in authority is not a crime.”
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The decision to remand them in prison for a week without trial is a brazen violation of their fair trial rights. Satirizing those in authority is not a crime. Nigerian authorities must immediately quash this appalling sentence. The human rights agency called on Nigerian authorities to “immediately quash this appalling sentence.”
Mubarak Isa Muhammad and Muhammad Bala were arrested last week after posting their video – in which they mocked the governor of the Northern state of Kano, defaming Abdullahi Ganuje for alleged land grabbing, corruption and sleeping on the job – to TikTok and Facebook.
Muhammed and Bula were subsequently found guilty of defaming the governor.
Prosecution lawyer Wada Ahmed Wada said the men had defamed the governor and that their action was capable of disturbing public peace.
The ruling which comes with physical punishment as the consequence for offences is at odds with Western notions of legal punishment but highlights the subjectivity of law in different cultural contexts.
Nigeria has seen a growing number of social media stars who use comedy to comment on social and political issues.
In addition to the public lashing ordered by the court, the men were ordered to pay a fine of 10,000 naira (around $23) each and cleaning “including sweeping the court premises and washing the court’s toilets for 30 days,” Ibrahim stated.
They were also ordered to make a video on social media to publicly apologize to Governor Ganduje.
Osai Ojigho, the director of Amnesty International Nigeria, condemned the ruling, saying “satirizing those in authority is not a crime.”
The decision to remand them in prison for a week without trial is a brazen violation of their fair trial rights. Satirizing those in authority is not a crime. Nigerian authorities must immediately quash this appalling sentence. The human rights agency called on Nigerian authorities to “immediately quash this appalling sentence.”
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