Jibrin Babaji, a 43 year old Nigerian man, was sentenced...

Jibrin Babaji, a 43 year old Nigerian man, was sentenced to death by stoning by a Sharia court in the northern Bauchi State for sleeping with three boys. A spokesman for the court, Bala Ahmed, said Babaji had been sentenced after having confessed to sexually molesting the minors at different times over the past year, contrary to the Islamic law, or Sharia, in force in the state.
"Presiding judge Jibril Sani Darazo ruled that the accused should be stoned to death according to Islamic injunction," the spokesman said. Babaji, who remained sober and remorseful throughout the ordeal, vowed to appeal the ruling.
The convicted man would have 30 days to appeal the decision, Ahmed said.
"The accused has the right of appeal of 30 days after which the governor will approve (the sentence) or order that there should be a retrial," said the spokesman.
The boys, whose ages were not given, said they had been lured into having sex with the man with an offer of 50 naira (about 30 US cents), according to the court official.
They were each sentenced to receive 50 lashes of the cane for accepting the money.
They pleaded for mercy from the Islamic court, but the judge "refused to be persuaded by their pleas and ordered that they should be flogged," the spokesman said.
The announcement came minutes after the Sharia appeals court in Katsina State reversed the adultery conviction for 31-year-old Lawal.