A ruling in northern Nigeria by an Islamic court to sentence a cleric to death for blaspheming Prophet Muhammad has been welcomed by the regions mostly Muslim residents.
Abdul Inyass is said to have committed a serious crime for which Islamic law prescribed the death penalty.
Human rights activists are yet to comment on the ruling but are likely to condemn it.
Inyass is a preacher of a local faction of the Tijaniya sect founded in Senegal by Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse, wo has a large following across West Africa.
In June last year, the same court sentenced five other people, including a woman, to death for organising the event where Inyass made the “derogatory” remarks against Prophet Muhammad, and for agreeing with what he said, and helping him flee, prosecutor Lamido Abba told the BBC news agency.
The five are appealing against the ruling.
Inyass was arrested in the capital, Abuja, and was represented at the trial by a senior lawyer who did not want his identity revealed because of the sensitivities around the case.
