Rhoda Jatau: Nigeria

Imprisoned for “blasphemy”

Topic | Religious Freedom, Freedom of Expression

Rhoda Jatau, a Nigerian Christian and mother of 5, endured years of criminal proceedings, including a 19-month stay in prison, for charges of “blasphemy.” Her crime? Allegedly sharing a video on WhatsApp condemning the lynching of Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a Nigerian university student who was murdered and set on fire by a mob of her classmates in May 2022 for sharing her Christian faith.

Jatau was finally and fully acquitted of any wrongdoing following a two-and-a-half-year legal ordeal in December 2024. She is now safe in an undisclosed location.

We are thankful to God for Rhoda’s full acquittal and an end to the ordeal she has endured for far too long. No person should be punished for peaceful expression, and we are grateful that Rhoda Jatau has been fully acquitted. But Rhoda should never have been arrested in the first place. We will continue to seek justice for Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria who are unjustly imprisoned and plagued by the draconian blasphemy laws.”

- Sean Nelson, legal counsel for ADF International

Case summary

Jatau, a Christian and mother of five, was imprisoned from May 2022 through December 2023 for allegedly sharing a video on WhatsApp condemning the lynching of Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a Nigerian university student who was murdered and set on fire by a mob of her classmates in May 2022 for sharing her Christian faith.

Jatau was charged under sections 114 (public disturbance) and 210 (religious insult) of the Bauchi State Penal Code, and if convicted, faced 5 years in prison.

Prior to being granted bail and during her 19-month imprisonment, Jatau was repeatedly denied bail and detained incommunicado, only having intermittent access to legal counsel and family members during court appearances.

Before granting bail, a judge in Bauchi State, Nigeria, refused to dismiss prosecutors’ case in their trial against Jatau. The decision to continue with the prosecution followed a “no case submission” filed by Jatau’s lawyers after the prosecution had rested based on serious evidentiary issues. Jatau’s lawyers raised significant legal failures in the prosecution’s case, and argued that they had not established the basic elements of their case against Jatau.

The grant of bail and final acquittal followed international outcry over Jatau’s imprisonment. Highlighting both Jatau and Yakubu’s cases, and in response to appeals from ADF International and other religious freedom advocacy organizations, United Nations experts sent a joint allegation letter to the Nigerian government in October of 2023. The letter emphasized the danger of blasphemy laws as a violation of international human rights and called attention to Jatau’s unjust imprisonment.    