Nigerian TikTok stars sentenced to 20 lashes for defaming governor

Two Tiktok stars in in Nigeria’s Kano State have been found guilty of defaming state governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

The magistrate’s court also found them of engaging in actions that could disturb public peace.

The sentence included offering a public apology to the governor, being given 20 lashes each, an order to sweep the court premises for a month to pay a fine of 10,000 naira ($23) each.

The two, Mubarak Isa Muhammad, alias Unique Pikin, and Nazifi Muhammad Bala mocked the governor in skits that accused Ganduje of land grabbing, corruption and dozing off in public.

A BBC Africa LIVE report said, they were found guilty on Monday of defaming Kano state governor Abdullahi Ganduje in a comedy video they recorded and shared on TikTok and Facebook.

They pleaded guilty and asked for leniency, with their lawyer stating that they would not appeal the ruling.