Source:

Death penalty cases [ID 14735]

"Sani Yakubu Rodi, aged 27, was executed by hanging on 3 January at Katsina Prison following the expiration of the statutory 30-day period to appeal against the sentence. He had been found guilty in November 2001 by a Sharia court in Katsina of the murder of a woman and her two children.
Amina Lawal, aged 30, was sentenced on 22 March to stoning to death for adultery by a Sharia court at Bakori, Katsina State. She allegedly confessed at her first trial to having had a child while divorced. On 19 August the Sharia Court of Appeal in Funtua, Katsina State, upheld the death sentence. Amina Lawal's appeal against the sentence to the Upper Sharia Court of Appeal of Katsina was still pending at the end of the year. Amina Lawal's case was the subject of a worldwide campaign by several non-governmental organizations, including AI, against death sentences and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments passed by Sharia courts in northern Nigeria.
On 25 March the Sharia Court of Appeal of Sokoto State ordered the acquittal of Safiya Yakubu Hussaini, who was facing death by stoning for adultery. She had been sentenced to death in October 2001 by a Sharia court in Gwadabawa, Sokoto State."

11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Bauchi State: Man sentenced to death by stoning for alleged rape ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 22785]

"In May the Shari'a court of Bauchi State sentenced Ade Dabo to death by stoning for the alleged rape of two female minors in 2003. Dabo appealed, and at year's end the case was pending confirmation by the newly elected Bauchi State governor. If confirmed, this case would represent the second stoning sentence carried out since Shari'a penal code was implemented in 2000."

Document(s): Open document

31.01.2008 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Sharia has provisions for sentences that amount to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment ("World Report 2008") [ID 22264]

"Since 2000, Sharia (Islamic law) courts have had jurisdiction over criminal cases in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states. Sharia has provisions for sentences that amount to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, including death sentences, amputations, and floggings. Although capital sentences have been thrown out on appeal or simply not carried out, Sharia courts continue to hand down death sentences."

Document(s): Open document

14.09.2007 - Source: US Department of State

The Constitution permits capital punishment; no Shari'a death sentences were carried out during the period covered by the report ("International Religious Freedom Report 2007") [ID 21304]

"The Constitution permits capital punishment; although several Shari'a courts, as well as common law courts, sentenced persons to death, no Shari'a death sentences were carried out during the period covered by this report."

Document(s): Open document

14.09.2007 - Source: US Department of State

There were no reports that states administered amputations or canings pursuant to a Shari'a court ruling during the period covered by the report ("International Religious Freedom Report 2007") [ID 21305]

"Muslims convicted of crimes under Shari'a received a public caning sentence for minor offenses, such as petty theft, public consumption of alcohol, and prostitution. Unlike in the past, there were no reports that states administered amputations or canings pursuant to a Shari'a court ruling during the period covered by this report. For a variety of reasons, there were numerous Shari'a cases pending appeal or implementation of sentence, including pending amputation and stoning sentences in Jigawa, Bauchi, Niger, Kano, and Zamfara states. The 2003 case involving Bauchi resident Ade Dabo, sentenced to stoning for the alleged rape of two minor females, was pending confirmation by the newly elected Bauchi State Governor. If confirmed, this case would represent the second stoning sentence carried out since Shari'a criminal punishment was reintroduced in 2000."

Document(s): Open document

10.08.2007 - Source: BBC News

Northern Nigeria: 18 gay men face stoning to death under Sharia law after being arrested for alleged sodomy ("Gay Nigerians face Sharia death") [ID 21141]

Document(s): Open document

17.05.2007 - Source: BBC News

Bauchi State: Islamic court sentences man to death for raping two teenage girls; state has introduced Sharia punishments for criminal offences in recent years ("Sharia stoning for man") [ID 20941]

Document(s): Open document

05.2007 - Source: US Commission on International Religious Freedom

Sharia punishments include amputation, flogging, or death by stoning, oftentimes trials don't correspond with international legal standards ("Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom") [ID 20784]

"There have been several cases in which sharia courts have handed down sentences of death by stoning to Muslims for various offenses. In 2003, several such cases were overturned and thrown out on appeal; stoning sentences remain in several other cases pending appeal. No stoning punishments have been carried out as of the time of this report. Nevertheless, sentences involving amputation and flogging have been carried out in recent years, although no such sentences were carried out during the past year, and several cases of this kind have been reversed on appeal, are in the process of appeal, or are awaiting sentencing. There are pending amputation and/or stoning sentences in Jigawa, Bauchi, Niger, Kano, and Zamfara states. Many of these cases have been delayed continuously for various reasons."

Document(s): Open document

01.2007 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Since 2000 Sharia courts have been given jurisdiction over criminal cases in 12 states; they provide for cruel sentences such as amputations, floggings and death sentences ("World Report 2007") [ID 18980]

"Since 2000 Sharia (Islamic law) has been extended to give Sharia courts jurisdiction over criminal cases in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states. Sharia has provisions for sentences that amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including death sentences, amputations and floggings. No executions or amputations have taken place since early 2002 and capital sentences have generally been thrown out on appeal, but Sharia courts continue to hand down death sentences."

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Constitution permits capital punishment; no Shari'a death sentences were implemented during the period covered by this report ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 17799]

"The constitution permits capital punishment; although several Shari'a courts, as well as secular courts, sentenced persons to death, no Shari'a death sentences were implemented during the period covered by this report."

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Bauchi State: Nigeria Legal Aid Council agreed to appeal 30 Sharia convictions and death sentences ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 17801]

"The Nigeria Legal Aid Council agreed to appeal thirty Shari'a convictions and death sentences in Bauchi State. In one case from September 2004, an eighteen-year-old man, Saleh Dabo, alleged that police told him he could plead guilty to rape and he would be released; instead, a court sentenced him to death by stoning for adultery, even though he was not married. At the end of the period covered by this report, the appeal had not been heard, and the sentence had not been carried out."

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Muslims convicted of minor offenses under Sharia sentenced to public caning ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 17802]

"Muslims convicted of crimes under Shari'a were sentenced to public caning for minor offenses, such as petty theft, public consumption of alcohol, and prostitution. Unlike in the past, there were no reports that states administered amputations or canings pursuant to Shari'a during the period covered by this report. There were numerous Shari'a cases pending appeal or implementation of sentence, including pending amputation and stoning sentences in Jigawa, Bauchi, Niger, Kano, and Zamfara States. Many of these cases were delayed continuously for various reasons. In May 2005 a Shari'a appeals court in Kaduna overturned amputation sentences that had been passed in 2003 against six Zaria men who had been accused of stealing a cow and a motorcycle. The appeals court ruled that the lower court had erred in convicting the men solely on the basis of police testimony, without allowing the men to defend themselves. The men also had not had access to legal representation, as required by the Kaduna State Shari'a code."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Kano State: 2 men sentenced to death by hanging for murder ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 17516]

"On 10 November the Upper Sharia Court of Yankaba district, Kano State, sentenced two men to death by hanging for murder under the state Sharia Law of 2000."

Document(s): Open document

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

25-year-old received 80 lashes after confessing to consumption of alcohol and smoking marijuana ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46036],  [ID 15828]

"On May 27, 25-year-old Awwalu Ibrahim received 80 lashes with a horsewhip after confessing to consumption of alcoholic beverages and smoking marijuana."

Document(s): Open document

08.11.2005 - Source: US Department of State

18 year old man sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, even though he is not married ("International Religious Freedom Report 2005") [#38877],  [ID 14726]

"The Nigeria Legal Aid Council agreed to appeal 30 Shari'a convictions and death sentences in Bauchi State. In one case, an 18-year-old man, Saleh Dabo, alleged that police told him he could plead guilty to rape, and he would be released; instead, a court sentenced him to death by stoning for adultery, even though he is not married. The appeal has not yet been heard.

Muslims convicted of crimes under Shari'a law were sentenced to public caning for minor offenses, such as petty theft, public consumption of alcohol, and prostitution. Unlike in the past, there were no reports that states administered amputations or canings pursuant to Shari'a law during the period covered by this report. There are numerous Shari'a cases pending appeal or implementation of sentence, including pending amputation and stoning sentences in Jigawa, Bauchi, Niger, Kano, and Zamfara States. Many of these cases have been delayed continuously for various reasons.

In May 2005, a Shari'a Appeals Court in Kaduna overturned amputation sentences that had been passed in 2003 against six Zaria men who had been accused of stealing a cow and a motorcycle. The Appeals Court ruled that the lower court had erred in convicting the men solely on the basis of police testimony, without allowing the men to defend themselves. The men also had not had access to legal representation, as required by the Kaduna State Shari'a code.

Human rights groups reported that many indigent persons convicted of Shari'a offenses claimed they had not known they were entitled to legal representation."

Document(s): Open document

13.01.2005 - Source: Human Rights Watch

No executions or amputations have taken place since early 2002 ("World report 2005") [#28197],  [ID 14727]

"Shari’a (Islamic law), which was extended to cover criminal law in 2000, is in force in twelve of Nigeria’s thirty-six states. Shar’ia has provisions for sentences amounting to cruel inhuman and degrading treatment, including death sentences, amputations and floggings. However, the number of sentences that have been handed down by Shari’a courts has decreased and there appears to be a reluctance on the part of the authorities to carry them out. No executions or amputations have taken place since early 2002 though a number of defendants remain under sentence of death. For example in September and October 2004, two women in Bauchi state, were sentenced to death by stoning for adultery."

Document(s): Open document

26.05.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Annual Report 2004 (covering 2003) ("Annual Report 2004") [#22703],  [ID 14728]

"No executions were carried out during the year. Death sentences were passed both by the high courts and by Sharia courts in northern Nigeria. The new Sharia penal laws have changed the punishment for Muslims convicted of zina crimes from flogging to a mandatory death penalty, and have extended jurisdiction in capital cases to the lowest courts in the Sharia judicial system.

Jibrin Babaji was sentenced to death by stoning on 14 September by a Sharia court in Bauchi, northwest Nigeria, after being convicted under Sharia penal law of "sodomy" involving three minors. He was not represented by a lawyer and was convicted by a single judge. He had legal counsel at his appeal hearing in December, which had not concluded by the end of 2003.

Sentences of death by stoning passed in previous years continued to be a focus for worldwide criticism.


On 25 September the Upper Sharia Court of Appeal of Katsina State in northern Nigeria overturned the sentence of death by stoning passed on Amina Lawal at Bakori in March 2002. The court ruled that neither her conviction nor her confession was legally valid, and that no offence had been established. She had been convicted of zina after bearing a child outside marriage, and the death sentence had been upheld by a lower Sharia court of appeal.

In August the Sharia Court of Appeal in Dutse, Jigawa State, dismissed a sentence of death by stoning on Sarimu Mohamed Baranda, aged 54. The court allowed an appeal by his relatives on the grounds that he was suffering from a mental illness and ordered his admission to hospital. He had been sentenced to death in July 2002 after he confessed to raping a nine-year-old child, a confession he said later had been made under duress.

Others still faced the death penalty at the end of 2003 for alleged acts of zina.


An appeal against a sentence of death by stoning passed on Fatima Usman and Ahmadu Ibrahim in May 2002 was still pending at the end of 2003 after it was indefinitely adjourned in June by the Sharia Court of Appeal in Minna, Niger State. The couple were initially sentenced to five years' imprisonment for zina by a secular lower court. A court in New Gawu imposed the death penalty in May 2002, in their absence, after Fatima Usman's father complained to the state's Islamic authorities that the first sentence was too light. The federal authorities recognized only the first sentence, however, and refused to hand the couple over to the Islamic authorities. In October 2002 they were released on humanitarian grounds to await the appeal."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

06.01.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

A Shari'ah Islamic court in northern Nigeria has sentenced a man to death by stoning for having sex with his 15-year-old step-daughter and making her pregnant ("Man sentenced to stoning for sex with step-daughter") [#18540],  [ID 14729]

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Shari'a courts in several northern states administered punishments such as amputations and caning ("Country Report - October 2003") [#17332],  [ID 14730]

"6.28 Some northern states have administered punishments such as amputations and caning. However, different versions of criminal Islamic Shari'a law were in place in 12 northern states. Shari'a courts delivered "hadd" sentences such as amputation for theft, caning for fornication and public drunkenness, and death by stoning for adultery. As no case has reached the Nigerian Federal Court, federal appellate courts have yet to decide whether such punishments represent impermissible "torture or...inhuman or degrading treatment" as defined by the Constitution. In both common law and Shari'a courts, the poor, who are often without legal representation, were more likely to have their sentences carried out immediately. The Government has instituted a panel of legal scholars to draft a uniform Shari'a criminal statute for all northern states to replace divergent Shari'a statutes adopted by the individual states; however, states continued to apply their own individual codes. Convicted Muslims in Shari'a law states have been subjected to public caning for various offences, such as petty theft, public consumption of alcohol, and engaging in prostitution. Caning as a punishment under common law, the Northern Nigerian Penal Code, and Shari'a law has not been challenged in the court system as a violation of the cruel and inhuman punishment clause in the Constitution."

Document(s): Open document

25.09.2003 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Katsina State: Amina Lawal, who was sentenced to death by stoning by a lower Islamic court last year, acquitted by an Islamic appeal court which overturned her conviction for adultery ("Appeal court saves woman from stoning to death") [#16237],  [ID 14731]

""An Islamic appeal court in Nigeria saved a single mother from being stoned to death on Thursday when it overturned her conviction for adultery.

The court in Katsina State in northern Nigeria, acquitted 32-year-old Amina Lawal, who was sentenced to death by a lower Islamic court last year for having a baby 10 months after she was divorced.

Lawal was sentenced to death by a lower court under the strict Islamic Shariah (Law) in March 2002 after she had a baby out of wedlock. That court ruled that she should be stoned to death after she had weaned her 20 month old baby.

The man who she accused of making her pregnant was acquitted after he swore by the Koran that he was not responsible. In August 2002, an upper Shariah court confirmed the sentence. Lawal, through her lawyers, then appealed to Katsina state's highest Islamic court.""

Document(s): Open document

28.05.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

Judge sentenced to 80 lashes after being convicted of alcohol consumption ("Annual Report 2003") [#13067],  [ID 14732]

"Mohammed Na'ila, a Sharia court judge from Zamfara State, received 80 strokes of the cane in public on 18 January. The judge had been found guilty of consuming alcohol by an upper Sharia court in Kaura Namoda, Zamfara State."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

28.05.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

Floggings and amputations were repeatedly carried out in towns and villages within hours of sentencing ("Annual Report 2003") [#13067],  [ID 14733]

"Most of those convicted under the new penal legislation were from economically deprived backgrounds. In the majority of cases, international standards for fair trial, such as the right to legal representation, were not observed. Floggings and amputations were repeatedly carried out in towns and villages within hours of sentencing."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

28.05.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

Northern Nigeria: During the year 2002, a large number of people were to cruel, inhuman or humiliating punishment under sharia laws ("Annual Report 2003") [#13067],  [ID 14734]

"Sharia courts sentenced several people to cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments. Dozens of people were sentenced to have their hands amputated for theft or armed robbery and to flogging for fornication, consumption of alcohol and other offences. The sentences were passed in Sokoto, Zamfara, Kano, Kebbi, Bauchi, Kaduna, Jigawa and other northern states. At least three sentences of flogging or amputation were carried out in Zamfara and Bauchi States."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

28.05.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

At least 5 people sentenced to death under Sharia laws in the North; no executions of persons sentenced to death based on laws other than Sharia in 2002 ("Annual Report 2003") [#13067],  [ID 14736]

"At least three death sentences were passed by High Courts, and on 27 May the Supreme Court upheld four death sentences passed by a High Court in Abia State in 1999. There were no executions of people who had been convicted of offences under non-Sharia penal codes.

Sharia-based penal legislation, which provides for mandatory death sentences for extra-marital sex and for murder, continued to be implemented in some states of northern Nigeria. One person was executed for murder and at least five death sentences were passed by Sharia courts in Bauchi, Kaduna, Jigawa and Niger States for offences related to sexual conduct."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

04.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

UK Home Office: Some northern states have administered punishments such as amputations and lashing ("Country Assessment - April 2003") [#13449],  [ID 14751]

"6.28 Some northern states have administered punishments such as amputations and caning. However, different versions of criminal Islamic Shari'a law were in place in 12 northern states. Shari'a courts delivered "hadd" sentences such as amputation for theft, caning for fornication and public drunkenness, and death by stoning for adultery. As no case has reached the Nigerian Federal Court, federal appellate courts have yet to decide whether such punishments represent impermissible "torture or...inhuman or degrading treatment" as defined by the Constitution. In both common law and Shari'a courts, the poor, who are often without legal representation, were more likely to have their sentences carried out immediately. The Government has instituted a panel of legal scholars to draft a uniform Shari'a criminal statute for all northern states to replace divergent Shari'a statutes adopted by the individual states; however, states continued to apply their own individual codes. Convicted Muslims in Shari'a law states have been subjected to public caning for various offences, such as petty theft, public consumption of alcohol, and engaging in prostitution. Caning as a punishment under common law, the Northern Nigerian Penal Code, and Shari'a law has not been challenged in the court system as a violation of the cruel and inhuman punishment clause in the Constitution."

Document(s): Open document

19.12.2002 - Source: BBC News

Report on amputations in northern Nigeria ("Eyewitness: Nigeria's Sharia amputees") [#10048],  [ID 14737]

Document(s): Open document

11.11.2002 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Government will not allow people to be stoned to death ("Nigeria: No deaths by stoning, government official says") [#9514],  [ID 14738]

Document(s): Open document

08.10.2002 - Source: BBC News

Couple sentenced to death by stoning for adultery ("No respite for Nigeria stoning couple") [#8873],  [ID 14739]

Document(s): Open document

07.10.2002 - Source: US Department of State

Amputations and canings administered in northern states ("International Religious Freedom Report 2002") [#8895],  [ID 14740]

"Some northern states have administered amputations and canings pursuant to expanded Shari'a law. For example, on July 6, 2001, Umaru Aliyu had his hand amputated in Sokoto State after being convicted of stealing a goat and approximately $400. In July 2001, a Shari'a court in Kebbi State sentenced a 15-year-old boy to amputation of one of his hands for stealing $286 (32,000 naira) from a business man. In September 2000, a Sokoto Shari'a court handed down a sentence of amputation for a thief; the sentence had not been carried out by the end of the period covered by this report.
During the period covered by this report, seven men, who were convicted of stealing and housebreaking, were sentenced to have their right hands amputated in Kano State. Two of the men had appeals pending, and the other five had not exercised their right to appeal. In Bauchi State, four men who were convicted of stealing were sentenced to have their right hands amputated. Bauchi State Governor Adamu Mu'azu referred these cases to the Inspectorate Division of Shari'a Courts for review. Once the review is complete, it is the governor's decision whether or not the sentences are carried out. No further action was taken by the end of the period covered by this report.
Other convicted Muslim criminals in Shari'a law states were subjected to public caning for various minor offenses, such as petty theft, public consumption of alcohol, and engaging in prostitution. For example, in January 2002, a Shari'a judge was flogged publicly after he was convicted of consuming alcohol. Indigent persons without legal representation were more likely to have their sentences carried out immediately upon being sentenced."

Document(s): Open document

07.10.2002 - Source: US Department of State

Girl child sexually abused and sentenced to caning for fornification ("International Religious Freedom Report 2002") [#8895],  [ID 14741]

Document(s): Open document

03.10.2002 - Source: All Africa

Muslim man sentenced to imprisonment and lashing for selling gin [ID 14742]

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Document(s): Open document

01.10.2002 - Source: BBC News

Corporal punishment not applied in Kano, while public lashing recorded ("01/10/2002 - BBC: The Sharia effect?") [ID 14743]

Document(s): 01/10/2002 - BBC: The Sharia effect?

03.09.2002 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Late appeal against death by stoning penalty in Jigawa state [ID 14744]

"Family members of a man sentenced to death by stoning after a rape conviction in the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa have initiated a late appeal to stop his execution.
Mohammed Ado Baranda was sentenced to death under Shari'ah or Islamic law in May after he was convicted of raping a nine-year-old girl. He failed to challenge the sentence by the time the 30-day mandatory appeal period passed.
Haruna Hashim of the Shari’ah Court of Appeal in the Jigawa State capital, Dutse, told reporters that relatives of 54-year-old Baranda had filed an appeal on Friday, in which it was claimed he suffered from mental illness. The case was being reconsidered, Hashim added."

Document(s): Open document

29.08.2002 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Death sentence for adultery is unconstitutional, but the Federal government fears alienating northern states by taking action [ID 14745]

"Minister of Justice and Attorney-General Kanu Agabi was more pointed in expressing the government's readiness to challenge the death sentence for adultery. "The death sentence on Amina... raised substantial issues of law and fact worthy of the attention of the court of appeal," he told reporters. "We must appeal against the judgement." [...]
Critics have bemoaned what they see as the weakness of the government's case-by-case approach to the Shari'ah judgements. "This approach of taking each case as it comes up is certainly not good enough," human rights lawyer Onoja Ocheje told IRIN. "The Shari'ah sentences represent a fundamental challenge to the constitution, which Obasanjo and his government have sworn to defend."
Not only does the Nigerian constitution forbid torture, inhuman and degrading treatment but the country is a signatory to international conventions that are in direct opposition to such practices, Ocheje said. Besides, he added, the Nigeria constitution states that where any law (whether passed by local or regional governments) come into conflict with the constitution, then such laws become void.
Curiously, the Nigerian state governments that have introduced Shari'ah law defend their right to do so on the constitutional guarantee on the freedom of religion. Shari'ah, they have repeatedly argued, is inseparable from the practice of Islam. [...]
Obasanjo has resisted demands to seek a Supreme Court resolution of the Shari'ah crisis in Nigeria on the grounds that it could lead to the polarisation of the country along religious lines. But if the Lawal case makes its way to the highest court, some analysts fear the outcome will be the same."

Document(s): Open document

26.08.2002 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Administration of juvenile justice under Sharia [ID 14746]

"The recent introduction of Islamic or Shari'ah law in parts of northern Nigeria has created new deficiencies in the administration of juvenile justice. Under Shari'ah, the age of criminal responsibility is taken to be either 18 years or puberty. In cases involving fornication or adultery, which may attract flogging or the death penalty respectively, the age of responsibility is set at 15. The implication is that, in cases where children reach puberty earlier than 18 years, no distinction is made between them and adults in dispensing Shari'ah punishments.
In January 2001, a young girl, Bariya Ibrahim Magazu, whose age was variously put at between 13 and 17 years, was subjected to 100 strokes of the cane in public in Zamfara State, after she gave birth to a child without being married."

Document(s): Open document

19.08.2002 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Death sentence by stoning for adultery upheld by the appeals court in Katsina state ("Nigeria: Islamic court upholds death-by-stoning sentence") [#8352],  [ID 14747]

"An Islamic appeal court in Katsina State, northern Nigeria, on Monday upheld a death sentence imposed by a lower court on a woman found guilty of adultery.
Amina Lawal (30) was sentenced to death by stoning in March by a Sharia court in the small town of Bakori for giving birth out of wedlock. A man she identified as the father of the baby was discharged for want of evidence.
"We hereby uphold the judgment of the Bakori Sharia court that you be sentenced to death by stoning," said Abdullahi Aliyu Katsina, president of the Upper Sharia Court, who presided over the appeal in the larger town of Funtua.
The judge also maintained a preliminary ruling, issued earlier by the court, that the execution of the sentence would be postponed by 18 months, by which time Lawal’s eight-month-old baby would have been weaned."

Document(s): Open document

27.06.2002 - Source: BBC News

BBC: Man committed to death by stoning for adultery in Bauchi state ("Nigerian man faces death for adultery") [#7624],  [ID 14748]

Document(s): Open document

28.05.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

AI: Death penalty imposed in three states in 2002 ("Annual report 2002") [#7180],  [ID 14749]

"Attahiru Umar, aged in his thirties, was sentenced to death by stoning in Kebbi State in September. He was convicted on charges of homosexuality in connection with the sexual abuse of a young boy. No appeal was known to have been made to a higher court. The sentence was not known to have been carried out by the end of 2001.
In October Safiya Yakubu Hussaini, aged 30, was sentenced to death by stoning in Sokoto State after being convicted of adultery, under a law which violates international standards of human rights. At her first trial she suffered discrimination on the grounds of her gender: she was convicted on the basis of inadequate evidence, including that she was pregnant while reportedly no longer married; however, the court did not investigate the child's paternity or her allegation that she had been raped by a married man. In November she was granted leave to appeal and subsequently appealed to the Sokoto State Sharia Court of Appeal. In December the Federal Minister of Justice publicly declared that she would not be executed. By the end of 2001 no decision had been given on her appeal.
Sani Yakubu Rodi was convicted of murder in Katsina in November and sentenced to death by hanging. He pleaded not guilty at an initial hearing in July but changed his plea to guilty in September. He did not lodge an appeal."

Document(s): Open document

28.05.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

AI: Sharia in northern states imposes cruel and inhuman punishment ("Annual report 2002") [#7180],  [ID 14750]

"Several people were sentenced to have hands amputated for theft or armed robbery. They included at least one child whose sentence was not carried out. At least three amputations took place. Several men and women were sentenced to floggings, mostly following convictions for sexual offences or for the consumption or sale of alcohol. Floggings were routinely carried out, sometimes within hours of conviction.

In January Bariya Ibrahima Magazu, a teenage mother reportedly under 17 years old, was flogged 100 times with a cane in Zamfara State, after being convicted of pre-marital sexual intercourse in September 2000. She was not legally represented at her trial, and defence lawyers she appointed to lodge an appeal were told by court officials that the sentence would not be carried out before her appeal was heard by a higher court. However, the sentence was carried out before her rights of appeal had been exhausted and before the date given to her lawyers by court officials. Different standards of evidence were applied to her and to the three men she accused of coercing her into having sex with them. The men, all of them married, were not charged, tried or punished.
In July, 15-year-old Ali Abubakar was convicted of theft in Kebbi State and sentenced to amputation of his hand, despite being a minor. It was unclear whether he had legal representation at his trial. In August, the Special Rapporteur on Women of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission was given assurances by officials in Kebbi State that the punishment would not be carried out."

Document(s): Open document

04.2002 - Source: UK Home Office

UK Home Office: Caning is not limited to Sharia, available under Nigerian common law ("Country Assessment - April 2002") [#7103],  [ID 14752]

"The extension of Shari'a law in many northern states has generated a public debate on whether Shari'a punishments such as amputation for theft, caning for fornication and public drunkenness constituted "torture or... inhuman or degrading treatment" as stipulated in the Constitution. Caning as a punishment is available under Nigerian common law, the Northern Nigerian Penal Code, and Shari'a law and has not been successfully challenged in the court system as a violation of the cruel and inhuman punishment clause of the 1999 Constitution."

Document(s): Open document

16.01.2002 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Sharia imposes cruel and inhuman punishment in northern states ("World report 2002") [#5281],  [ID 14753]

"Sharia criminal courts handed down judgments in several northern states; until 1999, they had operated only for personal status law. Punishments amounting to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment included floggings and amputations, for offenses ranging from extra-marital sex to consumption or sale of alcohol, or theft. Floggings were carried out in public, sometimes immediately after the sentence was handed down by the court, apparently disregarding the right to appeal. The victims included minors, such as a seventeen-year-old mother convicted for pre-marital sex who was flogged in Zamfara state in January, less than a month after giving birth. In June, a court in Kebbi state ordered that a fifteen-year-old boy's hand be amputated after he was found guilty of theft; it was not known whether the sentence was carried out. At least two people were sentenced to death by stoning, including a pregnant woman in Sokoto; by November these death sentences had not been carried out.


While government officials repeatedly stated that Sharia law only applied to Muslims, it inevitably had consequences for Christians living in the northern states. On several occasions, civilian groups attacked establishments owned by Christians and destroyed consignments of alcohol. Rules such as those that forbid women from traveling with men in public vehicles were applied to Christians as well as Muslims. In January, a group claiming to enforce Sharia flogged a Christian man for selling alcohol."

Document(s): Open document

14.08.2001 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

IRIN: 20-year-old woman sentenced to 100 lashes by Islamic court ("Woman to receive 100 lashes") [#3511],  [ID 14754]

"A Sharia court in Nigeria's Zamfara State has sentenced a woman, Amina Abdullahi, to 100 lashes for having an extramarital affair, BBC reported. Zamfara is one of 10 northern states that have adopted the Islamic legal code that allows sentences such as lashing and amputation."

Document(s): 00552nig.htm
Open document

12.08.2001 - Source: Washington Post

Woman sentenced to 100 lashes in public ("Report: Woman Sentenced to Flogging") [#3462],  [ID 14755]

Document(s): 01828nig.htm
Open document

22.02.2001 - Source: Christian Science Monitor

In Zamfara, leaders say lashing not meant to be cruel punishment [ID 14756]

"Muslim leaders here say they are misunderstood. They explain that lashings are meant to serve as highly regulated public humiliations not brutal punishments.
According to Zamfara state's legal code: "(f) The executioner shall be of moderate physique; (g) The lashes shall be of moderate force so as not to cause lacerations to the skin of the convict; (h) The executioner shall hold the whip with the last three fingers."
Custom dictates that the executioner holds a book under the arm with the whip to further reduce the force of the blow.
Whips, made from an arm's length strip of stiff cowhide, are sold in most markets and commonly used by public school teachers and parents here to discipline children."

Document(s): Open document