He admits, the insults were changed in the heat of the moment, but Farouq, a teenager, did not think of anything in return until he was called to the police station and accused of blasphemy against God.
When he learned of the nature of his arrest, a furious mob descended on Farouq’s family home, forcing his mother to flee to a neighboring village, his lawyer said.
Farouq, then 16, was sentenced and sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor by a Sharia court in Kano, northern Nigeria.
“I am delighted, I am in a happy mood. And I am grateful to all those who helped and supported this result with the grace of Allah,” Farouq, 17, told CNN in his first post-release interview. .
Alapinni helped release Farouq from prison.
“We found out that they were convicted the same day, by the same judge, in the same court, for blasphemy and we found out that no one was talking about Omar, so we had to move quickly to file an appeal for him,” he said. he said. said.
“Blasphemy is not recognized by Nigerian law. It is incompatible with the Nigerian constitution.”
Kano’s High Court stated that Farouq’s conviction as a minor “was made by mistake and … is overturned and the defendant is released and acquitted by this.”
An “unjust” punishment
Farouq says he is hurt because the Sharia court has been “unfair” to him.
Sharia court officials did not comment on the Farouq case, and efforts to reach them were unsuccessful. CNN also contacted the Kano state government for comment, but has not yet received a response.
In total, Farouq spent more than five months in jail with no access to family or lawyers.
Her family said she was not informed of the details of her case and did not know the date of her court hearing.
“They weren’t fair to us,” he told his uncle Umar Aliyu on CNN. “When they took this boy to court, they didn’t tell us the court they took him to … and they refused to tell us the date set for the decision. They followed us further. I went to Hisbah’s office pleaded with the interrogator, but he told me to leave his office. I left hurt and close to tears, extremely sad. ”
The family also learned from media reports that Farouq had been convicted and convicted, Aliyu said.
Aliyu remembers being “shrouded in sadness” every time he thought of his imprisoned nephew without any contact with his family.
“Everyone … was very upset, I was really sad. We just had to comfort each other, advising some to take it as something Allah had ordained … telling them to be patient. This provided emotional relief.
“For the time he was in prison every time I thought of him, I became worried. Every time I thought of him, sadness enveloped me.”
“His life is in danger”
Now that Farouq has been released, he says he is determined to finish his education and has ambitions to enter politics to fight the kind of injustice he has faced.
“I pray that Allah will bless me to become governor or president in order to reform Sharia and put an end to the injustice on my fellow citizens and on me, because in some judicial cases the crime does not justify harsh judgment. This is deprivation of your right, oppression and abuse, “he said.
Although his sentence was overturned, Farouq’s life remains in danger from fanatics who consider his release an insult, according to his lawyer.
Alapinni told CNN how horrified Farouq was when he came to meet him outside prison when he was released.
“He himself knows that he is in danger, because when we tried to get him out of prison … he was afraid in front of him, he didn’t even want to follow us … everyone had told him that if he came out of the prison walls he would be killed, “Alapinni said.
“Now we have to arrange his safe passage. His life is in danger in Kano – it will never be the same,” he said.