Omar Farouq was convicted in a Sharia court in northwestern Nigeria’s Kano state after he was accused of using foul language against Allah in an argument with a friend.
He was sentenced on August 10 by the same court that recently sentenced a studio assistant Yahaya Sharif-Aminu to death for blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad, according to lawyers.
Farouq’s punishment violates the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Nigerian constitution, said his lawyer Kola Alapinni, who told CNN that they filed an appeal in his name on September 7.
Farouq was tried as an adult because he reached puberty and has full responsibility under Islamic law.
Alapinni told CNN that he or other lawyers working on the case did not have access to Farouq by Kano state officials.
He said he discovered Farouq’s case by accident while working on the Sharif-Aminu case, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy at the High Court of Sharia in Kano.
“We found out that they were convicted the same day, by the same judge, in the same court, for blasphemy and found out that no one was talking about Omar, so we had to act quickly to appeal him,” he said.
“Blasphemy is not recognized by Nigerian law. It is inconsistent with Nigeria’s constitution.”
The lawyer said Farouq’s mother had fled to a neighboring town after crowds broke into her home after her arrest.
“Everyone here is afraid to speak and lives in fear of reprisal attacks,” he said.
UNICEF released a statement on Wednesday “expressing deep concern” about the sentence.
“The sentencing of this child – 13-year-old Omar Farouq – to 10 years in prison with manual labor is wrong,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF representative in Nigeria. “It also denies all the basic principles of children’s rights and child justice that Nigeria – and, by implication, the State of Kano – signed.”
The state of Kano, like most predominantly Muslim states in Nigeria, practices Sharia law along with secular law.
CNN contacted a spokesman for the Kano state governor for comment, but had no response before publication.
UNICEF called on the Nigerian government and the Kano state government to urgently review the case and revoke the sentence, the organization said in a statement.
“This case further highlights the urgent need to accelerate the enactment of the Kano State Child Protection Bill to ensure that all children under 18, including Omar Farouq, are protected – and that all children in Kano to be treated according to child rights standards, “said Hawkins.
Correction: an earlier version of this story and the headline distort Omar Farouq’s age. Based on new information from court documents, we have corrected it. Farouq was 16 when he was arrested.