Kano TikToker jailed for one year, see reason
Kano TikTok creator Abubakar Usman Kilina jailed.
A Kano magistrate’s court has sentenced popular TikTok creator Abubakar Usman Kilina to one year in prison, with an option to pay ₦100,000, following his conviction for promoting indecent behavior in a recent TikTok video.
Presided over by Magistrate Hadiza Muhammad Hassan, the court also imposed a ₦30,000 compensation fee payable to the Kano State Film Censorship Board. Prosecutors had argued that Kilina’s content—featuring cross-dressers and offensive language—violated local laws governing public decency.
The case was brought by the Kano State Film Censorship Board, which maintains that online creators bear the same responsibility for preserving moral standards as traditional media.
Magistrate Hassan warned Kilina against repeating such offenses, noting that any future violations would result in the full prison sentence with no fine option .
The ruling underscores increasing regulatory scrutiny of social media content in northern Nigeria, where creators are frequently prosecuted for perceived cultural and religious infractions .