An Upper Sharia Court in Niger State condemned to death...

An Upper Sharia Court in Niger State condemned to death two lovers for adultery. The lovers Ahmadu Ibrahim and Fatima Usman were sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery by the presiding judge of the Upper Sharia Court, New Gawu. The lovers had been arraigned before the Sharia court on May 28, 2002 for committing adultery contrary to Sections 387 and 388 of the penal code as amended in cap 94 laws of Niger State of 2000. According to the prosecuting police officer, Inspector Yusuf Musa, Fatima's father, Mallam Usman Umaru, lodged a complaint at the Lambata Police Station, alleging that Ahmadu impregnated his daughter out of wedlock. When the charges were read to the two accused persons, they pleaded guilty and were committed to a five-year jail term on August 5, 2002 by the trial judge. The case took a new turn when Fatima's father protested the jail term handed down to his daughter. This led to memo by the state judiciary faulting the judgement of the Sharia court judge. A retrial then ensued and a guilty verdict was passed on the lovers under sections 387 and 388 of the amended penal code 2000. Condemning the two in absentia (due to their imprisonment) the trial judge said "any Moslem who agreed to have committed adultery is liable for punishment as prescribed by Hadith Mootar-Malik on Page 43, which empowered the judge to punish offenders without necessarily looking for witnesses." He then ordered that the two be stoned to death.