A young Nigerian musician has been sentenced to death after being convicted of sharing an insulting song about Prophet Muhammad.

Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, 22, was convicted of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad on 10 August by a Sharia court in Kano province.

His song which was shared on instagram caused riots throughout the city. Protesters burnt down his family home demanding his prosecution, leading to his arrest. 

The singer is said to have gone into hiding after sharing the song. The song was praising an imam from the Tijaniya Muslim brotherhood to the point where it gave him higher status than the Prophet Muhammad, the BBC reported.

The UN’s Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner this week urged authorities to overturn the death sentence and to ensure his safety, saying that Nigeria “must take effective measures to protect” him, calling his case a “flagrant violation” of international law.  

“We are deeply concerned over the serious lack of due process in Mr. Sharif-Aminu’s case so far, especially reports that he has been held incommunicado, and that he did not have access to a lawyer during his initial trial, a trial that was not open to the public”, the office said in a statement.

Adding "For artistic expression or for sharing a song on the Internet" constitutes a "flagrant violation of international human rights law, as well as of Nigeria’s constitution”.

Amnesty International described the sentence as a “travesty of justice” and said Nigeria was obliged under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to restrict capital punishment to the “most serious crimes”, which involve intentional killing.