Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has called on the Federal Government to take urgent measures to implement and give full effect to the April 9 judgement of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, which declared aspects of Kano State’s blasphemy laws a violation of Nigeria’s obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

While urging the government to promptly comply with the court’s directive to bring all such laws in Nigeria into conformity with its international human rights obligations, MRA stressed that failure to abide by the judgement would not only undermine the rule of law and weaken the regional human rights system, but also further tarnish Nigeria’s reputation as a democracy committed to the fundamental rights of its citizens.

In a unanimous judgement by three judges in a suit filed by a human rights organization, Expression Now Human Rights Initiative, the ECOWAS Court held on April 9 that the blasphemy provisions in the Kano State Penal Code, its Sharia Penal Code Law of 2000, and similar provisions in other laws violate key human rights guarantees, particularly the right to freedom of expression, guaranteed by the African Charter and the ICCPR.