Safiya Hussaini said of the death sentence hanging...

Safiya Hussaini said of the death sentence hanging over her: 'I felt sick when the judge passed down the sentence because of the injustice of it all. It is because I am poor, my family is poor, and I am a woman.'
Hussaini's appeal against the sentence is supported by local human rights groups as well as the federal Ministry of Justice. Although Nigeria's 36 states have independent legal codes, the constitutional issues are unclear. If the appeal fails in the Sokoto court of appeal, it could make its way to the Supreme Court in the capital, Abuja, when the inconsistencies in Nigeria's complex legal code will have to be confronted.
Hussaini will remain with her family until the appeal is heard. Although she feels an injustice has been done to her, she does not question a law that says someone who commits adultery should be stoned to death. 'That one,' she says, 'is too political for me to answer.' This, coming from a peasant woman in the poorest of villages, is precisely the point.
Politicians in the north have adopted sharia almost as a demonstration that they are the guardians of the Muslim faith. 'My fate in this matter is in the hands of Allah,' says Safiya Hussaini.