Kabara’s petition paints a picture of what he described as a deeply compromised judicial process, alleging that both the courts and government authorities acted in concert against him.
Abduljabbar Sheikh Nasir Kabara, a detained Islamic cleric currently held at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje, Abuja, has submitted an extensive “Letter of Further Complaint” to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), alleging grave judicial misconduct, political persecution, and a coordinated effort to suppress his appeals and eliminate him.
The petition, dated March 26, 2026, runs alongside multiple referenced exhibits and follows earlier complaints he said were ignored by the President of the Court of Appeal.
Sheikh Abduljabbar was sentenced to death by hanging in December 2022 by an Upper Sharia Court in Kano, presided over by Mallam Ibrahim Sarki Yola. The court found him guilty of making blasphemous statements against the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during his preachings.
Following his conviction, Kabara filed an appeal challenging the judgment on multiple grounds. He argued that he was denied a fair hearing, claiming his defence was not given adequate opportunity to fully present its case.
He also raised jurisdictional concerns, questioning the legal authority of the trial court to handle certain aspects of the charges against him. In addition, Kabara contended that the statements cited during the trial were scholarly excerpts and not intended to constitute blasphemy.
The letter urges the CJN to exercise his supervisory powers over the judiciary to ensure that the Appeal Court sitting in Kano (or an alternative division) hears the matter without further interference. The appellant maintains his innocence and insists that a transparent judicial process will vindicate him.
“With utmost respect, I, Abduljabbar Sheikh Nasir Kabara (The Appellant), write this letter to Your Lordship in order to promote my complaint regarding the above-mentioned Appeal. Due to the lack of response from the Honorable President of Court of Appeal of Nigeria concerning the complaint I submitted to her in written documents which I sent to her twice,” Kabara stated.
He said neither his initial complaint of February 18, 2026, nor a follow-up reminder sent on March 13, 2026, received any response, “whether in written or by action.”
Allegations of Systemic Judicial Injustice
Kabara’s petition paints a picture of what he described as a deeply compromised judicial process, alleging that both the courts and government authorities acted in concert against him.
He noted that “both the Judiciary and the Government used their powers against me in this case of mine, violated my dignity/rights unlawfully, and oppressed me despite the fact that I committed no offence.”
He urged the Chief Justice to review the full record of proceedings, which he said spans nearly 5,000 pages.
“Any just person who reads the nearly 5,000-page Record of this case of mine will feel pain and sorrow over the injustice done to me by powerful institutions-from my arraignment to the way the Upper Sharia Court K/Kudu, conducted the trial blindly, by using judicial authority to impose guilt upon me for an offence which clearly, even before the court itself, I did not commit,” he said.
“Yet the court delivered grave judgments, including declaring my blood lawful through death by hanging.”
According to him, the trial at the Upper Sharia Court in Kano was fundamentally flawed and predetermined.
He said that the court “conducted the trial blindly, by using judicial authority to impose guilt upon me for an offence” he insisted he did not commit.
He added that despite this, the court delivered severe penalties.
“Yet the court delivered grave judgments, including declaring my blood lawful through death by hanging,” he said.
Claims of Appeal Suppression and Procedural Irregularities
A central theme of Kabara’s complaint is the alleged obstruction of his right to appeal.
He stated that he filed a Notice of Appeal on December 23, 2022, “only eight days after the final judgment,” and later submitted his Brief of Argument, yet the process has stalled.
He alleged that the Respondent (Kano Government) used power to prevent the appeal from progressing. He further alleged that a second appeal filed on December 17, 2024, has also been blocked.
He lamented that the Kano State Government “again used power and stopped the second Appeal” up to Thursday, March 26, 2026.
Kabara also accused the Court of Appeal of attempting to undermine his case by assigning it to a panel without jurisdiction.
“Judges attempted to use court power to destroy this Appeal through suppressing it under a panel… that lack the jurisdiction,” he said.
He disputed specific claims made by appellate judges regarding his filings.
“With all due respect, I did not file two processes; I filed four processes,” he wrote.
He further alleged that the court misstated filing dates.
“I filed the second and third processes on 22/08/2024 not on 04/11/2024 as the Court of Appeal Judges stated. I filed the fourth process on 31/10/2024,” he said.
Alleged Manipulation of Charges and Legal Representation
Kabara accused state authorities of altering the legal basis of his charges during the appeal process.
According to him, the Respondent colluded with the lawyers to change the direction of this charge sheet from section 382(b) to section 282(b).
He described this as part of a broader pattern of legal manipulation, including attempts to introduce additional provisions.
“The Respondent changed the fraud strategy and tried to insert Section 275 into this case,” he wrote.
He also alleged collusion between state actors and legal counsel imposed on him.
“The Respondent colluded with the lawyers that Adamu Adamu (former education minister) imposed to me,” he said.
According to him, one lawyer attempted to destroy his case records.
“The reason for this is that, what they made a lawyer called Ado Dauda did; when they put pressure on me to hire a lawyer so that they could help my case, upon hiring him, they instructed him to destroy my entire case Record and he tried to do so unless Allah SWT protected it,” he wrote.
Political Conspiracy Allegations
In one of the most striking aspects of the petition, Kabara alleged that his prosecution is tied to a broader political and international conspiracy involving former Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu.
Kabara alleged that Adamu was the central figure behind the crisis against him. He described a long-standing relationship with Adamu that was revived after Adamu became Minister.
Kabara claimed he was deceived during a trip to Iran, where he was taken to cities and gatherings different from what he was told, including a mosque in Qom and a hall showing images of violence against followers of Ibrahim Zazzaki (El-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria).
He said he refused to meet certain individuals or participate in activities he perceived as dangerous, returning to Nigeria immediately.
Afterwards, Kabara recounted a meeting with the Iranian Ambassador in Abuja, during which he was warned that efforts were underway to make him a revolutionary figure like Ayatollah Khomeini, a plan he strongly rejected.
He alleged that Adamu attempted to manipulate him through money and pressure, including offers of substantial sums to compel compliance, which he refused.
Kabara asserted that his refusal to participate in what he described as a national betrayal led to armed security forces invading his home and mosque and ongoing efforts to seize his institutions and eliminate him.
He concluded that political manipulation and conspiracy, with information sourced from the Kano State Government, orchestrated a trial built on constitutional violations, including breaches of Section 38(1) of the 1999 Constitution, forming the basis of the charges against him.
He wrote: “The biggest/serious thing in this meeting was the statement the Ambassador made that: ‘They want to make me in Nigeria like Ayatullah Khomeini in Iran!’.
“Upon saying this, it immediately reminded me of a long explanation earlier given to me by Adamu Adamu concerning how Khomeini carried out the revolution in Iran. A very alarming statement, especially the word that he said Khomeini used to say when the killing intensified and his people started running away, he says: ‘Khandar makhyan khat khan’ or a similar word, and as soon as Khomeini said it they would return and being killed, until the corpses of people piled up and blocked the chains of artillery vehicle from turning on the road… up to the end of the stories he told me that were very alarming.
“This made me dislike the good news that the Iranian Ambassador told me, because its meaning was that, I would become the cause shedding the blood and lives of my fellow Nigerians.
“This Ambassador’s statement also reminded me of a prepared mixed liquid which Adamu Adamu had previously made me drink it through deception, which confirms that mixed liquid was connected to transforming me like Khomeini. All indications show that, this mixed liquid was to be given to me to drink in Tehran if we had met with the Important Person mentioned earlier, after I refused to go, they followed me with it to Nigeria.
“I built this suspicion on many reasons, such as: The phone call that Adamu Adamu made to (Abdullahi) Ganduje (former Kano State Governor) after he made me drink that mixed liquid, they discussed on me in a way that showed he gave Ganduje go-ahead to declare war against me because everything was completed. It will be heard that Ganduje was conferring me with METATSINE in his attacking statement against me.
“Second reason, the entrance of former Borno State Governor, Madu Sharif, at that moment, with the kind of conversation Adamu Adamu had with him.
“Third reason: in a meeting that took place in Kazimiyyah between me and close associates of Khamenei, namely Tajik and Abu Ali whom Shu’aibu Gashua was interpreting for me, Tajik made a long statement and concluded it with a statement similar to the Ambassador’s statement that, they want to make me Shehu Usmanu mujaddidi in Nigeria. Which in my response to Tajik I clearly told him my strong disapproval of any plan that is not based on scholarly preaching.
“Not long after this happened, Adamu Adamu sent envoys to me whom clearly informed me that the preparation of my training program in Tehran had been completed. He gave them $20,000 American Dollars and some amount I did not remember, when the passport collectors came, I clearly told them that, I would not go, he should find another willing their Shi’a members to send them in my place.
“Adamu Adamu thought that I looked down on the money, so he sent his envoy named Tijjani Yahudu, who linked me with him on his phone, where Adamu Adamu informed me that when the month ends I should meet him in Abuja there is N100,000,000 which he will give me, and here is an advance of N10,000,000 he sent.
“Seeing that the month ended, yet I did not call him, so he increased the contract price through his envoy named Mamuda Sunusi, saying, you will be given a contract in which you will get about N500,000,000, hurry to Abuja to Mallam Adamu; he wants to meet you.
“By the blessing of parent’s prayers, Allah gave me the strength of heart/courage despite my extreme need for this money; even by phone I did not call Adamu Adamu, rather I felt that I dislike even speaking with him, Adamu Adamu, let alone speaking on the money, due to the dirty need they want assign me to do.
“Seeing that I refused to go to Abuja, and I did not give him a phone call, Adamu Adamu ask his envoy named Aminu Shehu to give me the phone number of a person named Baffa Bichi (TetFund) and added that, he would come on Friday to pray in your mosque; call him with this number, there is a message he will give you.
“For confirmation, the Chief Justice can contact this person named Baffa Bichi: Have I ever called him on phone even once?
“All these things that happened did not make Adamu Adamu to abandon his effort of making me a terrorist. Except that he changed the method by inviting me to visit Imam Ali. After my arrival in Najaf, the Iranian envoy named Shu’aibu Gashua, informed me that he would collect my passport to process a visa to Iran.
“Upon hearing this, I called the person holding my passport named Salisu, and told him wherever my passport is, bring it to me; I am returning home today. I took the flight and returned back to Nigeria without bidding farewell to the 14 people who accompanied me, and till today 26/03/2026 they do not know the reason why I returned without bidding them farewell, except if they read this statement which I have made now to the Chief Justice.”
“That was why battalion of security forces was sent to invade my house and my mosque for seven days with heavy weapons together with orders to open fire on me, my family and all my followers, after Allah bestowed his power and saved me,” he said.
“That is why Adamu Adamu again made a new plan of using the power of the law improperly in order to achieve his goal of killing me and even confiscating the institutions/centers that I worked hard to establish.”
Dispute Over Property and Third-Party Claims
Kabara also raised concerns about a separate legal action by an individual, Musa Santuraki Pali, who allegedly sought ownership of his institutions.
He further alleged that court rulings contained inconsistencies that could be used to undermine his case.
Allegations Against Authorities
Kabara also accused prison authorities and government officials of ignoring his requests.
“The Prison authority used power to separate me from all my case documents,” he said.
He added: “The Hon. Minister of Interior ignored the calls being made to him regarding my matter.”
Kabara described the Chief Justice’s office as his last hope for justice.