The appeals division of the Kano High Court on Thursday overturned Omar Farouq’s sentence because he had no legal representation in his first trial, his lawyer Kola Alapinni told CNN.
He will be released on Monday after being in captivity for more than five months without access to family or lawyers.
The Sharia court ruling, which was overturned on Thursday, described him as a 17-year-old minor, but Alapinni told CNN that his client was 13 years old.
Alapinni said Farouq’s mother fled to a neighboring town after crowds descended on their home after his arrest.
“Now we have to arrange a safe passage for him. His life is in danger in Kano – it will never be the same,” Alapinni said.
He was not allowed legal representation before or during the trial – in violation of the constitutional right of Nigerian citizens to legal representation, his lawyers said.
He was convicted on August 10 for making “a blasphemous statement against the Prophet Mohammed in a WhatsApp group,” the court document said.
Blasphemy is a crime punishable by death under the Sharia Penal Code of Kano State.
The recording was widely shared, causing mass outrage in the extremely conservative, majority Muslim state, according to various reports.
However, Sharif-Aminu’s case was remanded to the Sharia court for retrial due to procedural irregularities, Alapinni said.
The lawyer told CNN that his team will fully challenge the decision.
“Both cases have similar facts and the same judge. Why is one defendant free and not the other?” he said.
Amnesty International’s country director Osai Ojigho said he welcomed Farouq’s release and that “he should not have been convicted in the first [place]. “
“We reiterate our position that Aminu Yahaya Shariff should have a fair hearing,” she added.
Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje told Kano clerics in August that he would sign Sharif-Aminu’s death warrant as soon as the singer has completed the appeal process, according to local media reports.
Kano State, like most predominantly Muslim states in Nigeria, practices Sharia law alongside secular law.
In the eyes of many Nigerians, the adoption of the Sharia law is a violation of the country’s constitution because they believe that Article 10 guarantees religious freedom.
“This issue of blasphemy is incompatible with the Nigerian constitution,” Leo Igwe, chairman of the board of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, told CNN.
The court upheld the legality of the Sharia criminal system in both cases, a decision that Alapinni said he would appeal to the Federal Court.
“It goes to the root of religious freedom in Nigeria,” he added.