Yes, Abduabdallah, very merciful, very righteous good deeds. Nigeria is struggling with what amounts to a civil war between those who insist on imposing Sharia law on non-Muslims, in Nigerian state civil society. As reported in "This Day," a Lagos newspaper:

Sharia: 6 Await Amputation
This Day (Lagos)

August 12, 2004

Agaju Madugba
Kaduna, Kaduna

Six persons are awaiting amputation of their hands in Zaria, having been convicted by an upper sharia court in Tudun Wada, Zaria, Kaduna State.

President of Civil Rights Congress (CRC), Malam Shehu Sanni, who disclosed this in Kaduna yesterday said the convicts had been detained at the Zaria Prisons for one year, after conviction.

According to Sanni, "the convicts were tried and sentenced in one day.

"The convicts revealed that they were not given the right and opportunity to engage the services of legal counsels and were deceived by the prosecution counsel to plead guilty so as to be gven reprieve.

"They have for over one year, remained in Zaria Prisons, a period long enough for them to have served prison terms.

"In a country with glaring evidence of persuasive corruption and impunity at all tiers of government, it is morally unjustifiable to amputate the hands of these impoverished people for petty theft, in the name of puritanism.

"We challenge state governments implementing sharia legal code, especially in the north, to come out with purposeful and meaningful projects and policies that will free our people from abject poverty and misery, Sharia law is not practicable or enforceable in a society deeply stagnated in shackles of penury and soulless poverty," he said.

Sanni said the CRC and other civil society groups in the north were set to challenge the judgment of the upper sharia court.

As he puts it, "we will not in any way condone violation of fundamental and constitutional rights of citizens or the sanctioning of the poor through repressive kangaroo trials which negate the basic principles and ethics of fairness, objectivity and justice."




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