BARBER ARRESTED FOR BLASPHEMOUS HAIRCUTS AGAINST ISLAM TELLS HIS SIDE OF THE STORY, SHOWS PHOTOS OF CUTS
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The young Benue barber, Elijah Ode, who is standing trial in Kano State after being accused of blasphemy was initially arrested by the police on January 15, 2021 and later released, new details reveal.

Ode, who is also a student, was rearrested from his shop in the Sabon Gari area of the state on Wednesday, January 27, for giving his customers haircuts deemed blasphemous to the Islamic religion.

He was arraigned in court on Tuesday, February 2, and thereafter remanded in prison.

The young man had shared details of his arrest via his Twitter handle @ode_elijah on January 26, along with photos of the alleged offending haircuts.

According to the tweets, he was arrested alongside two of his customers by police operatives from the Matro Division of the State Police Command on Friday, January 15, for giving the clients hair designs which they claimed have some similarities with some Islamic inscription.

“Reasons for the arrest goes thus: According to the police officers that showed up in my shop that day, in response to the allegation made against me by some members of the Islamic group in Kano, they said that they received a report that I gave two of my clients a haircut style with a design of an image which was said to have some similarities with something in Islamic religious group.

“However, they eventually arrested me, took some of my barbing tools. They also arrested the two of my clients who had the hairstyle on their heads. We were being detained till in the evening on Friday, 15th till Saturday night, 16th.

“We were being charged approximately N27,000 plus for the alleged offence. My shop was shut down for 4 days and it took 4 days as well for me to be able to get my tools back. Attached is the haircut design which they allegedly claimed is an Islamic inscription.”