Human rights bodies demand release of jailed Nigerian musician

Yusuf, whose stage name is AGY, was arrested on 18 June and sentenced a day later for defaming Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje in one of his songs. He was also charged with two counts of releasing a song and music video without the permission of the Kano State Censorship Board. The accumulative sentencing handed down is two years, with an option of a 100 000 naira ($280) fine and a reduction of the sentence by one year.

The petition was published by the Committee of Relevant Art (CORA) and Arterial Network Nigeria, which have decried the judicial process that led to Yusuf’s imprisonment.

The petition demands the reversal of the sentence and Yusuf’s unconditional release, as well as compensation for Kano-based artist SK, who was initially identified as the creator of the song but subsequently released when Yusuf was confirmed as its owner.

Music In Africa could not confirm the title of the song, but according to Daily Post one of the verses, sung in Hausa, says: “The Kano governor has already turned blind. I swear, what you did is hurting us. For lucre, the governor is more than a thief. For lucre, the governor can sell out Goggo [his wife].”

Since its release on 22 June, the petition has been signed by several rights activists and public figures. 

“Is the governor so fragile that insults (if indeed they were insults) hurled in his direction could have wounded him so grievously?” former Fela Kuti manager Rikki Stein wrote on the petition. “What kind of governor is he that he’s unable to rise above such inconsequential and ultimately harmless barbs?”

The former director of the Centre for Creative Arts in South Africa, Peter Rorvik, said: “The voices of artists make an important contribution to discussion and debate in our societies and the kneejerk shutting down of freedom of expression in this instance makes a mockery of local judicial processes. We hope that good sense will prevail before this case escalates into a major embarrassment for Nigeria.”

Nigerian rapper Falz, who was on the receiving end of criticism for his ‘This Is Nigeria’ video last year, also condemned Yusuf’s sentencing and imprisonment.

“It is shameful to see public officers using the machinery of the state to harass citizens and attempting to hinder our inalienable freedom of expression,” he said. “Anyone who knows the musician Mohammed Yusuf personally should please get in touch with me. We need to contend this unjust sentence.”

Sign the petition here.