Nigerian duo also ordered to clean court toilets for a month

Two Nigerian comedians have been sentenced to 20 public lashes after ‘defaming’ a state governor on TikTok.

The comics – Mubarak Isa Muhammad and Nazifi Muhammad Bala – were also ordered to spend 30 days cleaning the toilets of the magistrates court.

According to local press reports they mocked state governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in skits that accused him of land grabbing, corruption and dozing off in public.

Ganduje has been involved in a long-running legal dispute with the website Daily Nigerian over a video that allegedly shows him receiving wads of cash, said to be bribes from contractors. The governor insists the footage was doctored.

The comedians – whose Unique Pikin TikTok channel has 721,000 followers – were also ordered to produce an apology video on social media.

They were each fined 20,000 naira (£40) for defamation and inciting public disturbance after they pled guilty to the charges.

Kano is the second largest city in Nigeria, and the state is home to around 20million people.

Published: 8 Nov 2022