Nigerian Foreign Minister Sule Lamido has added to...

Nigerian Foreign Minister Sule Lamido has added to the controversy over the Islamic legal code, Sharia, being practised in parts of the country by describing the law as "competent and right". Briefing journalists in Abuja on the activities of his Ministry, the Minister said despite the heat generated by the Sharia, under which at least three women have been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, "the law is legal." Lamido's stand contradicts an earlier pronouncement by the federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Kanu Agabi, who described the Sharia in its current form as unconstitutional. A dozen States in the predominantly-Muslim northern Nigeria have adopted the code since Zamfara first introduced it in January 2000. But the largely Christian south has criticised the Sharia law, whose harsh prescriptions include death by stoning for adultery, amputation for stealing and public flogging for alcoholism and similar vices.Sharia practice in Nigeria attracted international attention after a woman divorcee Safiya Husseini Tungar-Tundu was sentenced to death by stoning by a Court in Sokoto in 2001. Though a superior Court overturned the judgement earlier this year, another woman, Aminat Lawal, is currently on death row after a similar judgement was passed on her by a Sharia Court in Katsina.Lamido said there should be no fear for Aminat's life, adding: "The same constitution also provides for the rights of redress for the citizens." "Let's wait, there is no need for apprehension, let the system run its normal course," he added.