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NIGERIA
Unrest over Islamic law
Vice-president reassures opponents
Nigeria’s top Muslim elected official has assured Christians that Islamic Sharia law in mainly Muslim northern states is trumped by the national constitution.
Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s comments were seen by local observers as an attempt to reassure minorities in the north that they would not be subject to the harsh penal code. The controversy over the implementation of the religious law by the Northern state governments has left hundreds dead this year. More than 500 people were killed in Kaduna state in February and May as at least half of the 19 states in the north introduced Sharia or are in the process of doing so.
Christians residing mostly in the southern part of the country have challenged the introduction of the law, which punishes theft with hand amputation and adultery with death by stoning, saying its adoption violated Nigeria’s constitution, which promotes pluralism. Muslims countered by saying the adoption of Sharia was in accordance with the tenets of their faith.
“No law made by a state is superior to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the independent Guardian daily quoted Abubakar as saying in a speech in Lagos “Even Muslims are free to opt out of Sharia since the constitution guarantees freedom of worship,” he said. “Critics are using the excuse of Sharia to preach discord and disunity. But this country will not break up,” he added.
Despite the assurances, fresh violence in northern Nigeria left 10 people dead and several buildings destroyed at the beginning of September.
Government officials said the latest violence started after Christian youths protesting against the planned introduction of Sharia in the state clashed with rival Muslim youths. The violence, which continued through the weekend, followed the reported presence of the state’s Sharia Implementation Committee members in the mainly Christian Dalanga area of the state.
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