The Nigerian Government said it is totally opposed...

The Nigerian Government said it is totally opposed to the stoning of a woman found guilty of adultery. It has also promised to guarantee the security of all those connected with the Miss World contest due to take place in Nigeria. This comes as the organisers of the Miss World beauty pageant are coming under increasing pressure to change the venue for this year's contest.In a letter published on the Miss World website, Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dubem Onyia says " no woman has ever been punished in such a dastardly manner...and this will not be an exception".
Amina Lawal, 30, is due to be stoned to death after giving birth outside marriage. In August, her appeal was rejected by a Sharia court.
The Nigerian minister's statement says that the government "stands stoically by those essential virtues entrenched in the human rights doctrine" and recalls that the sentence is still to be judged by higher courts in Nigeria. It adds that Nigeria is a federal country in which state laws and federal laws operate but "when the state laws impinge on the federal laws. The federal law usually supersedes".
The contestants from Switzerland, France, Belgium, Ivory Coast, Norway and Kenya had already withdrawn with seven other countries, including Germany, Finland, Togo and Poland considering a boycott of the contest, due to take place in the capital, Abuja, November, in protest at the death sentence imposed by an Islamic court in northern Nigeria.
"The Miss France committee is joining the protests against Nigeria, which condemns women to death for adultery. These sentences are barbaric and unacceptable," said Genevieve de Fontenay, head of the Miss France committee.
"I have decided not to take part if Amina Lawal is not freed," Miss Belgium Ann van Elsen told Le Soir newspaper.
However Miss Sweden, Sophia Hedmark, will be using the platform in Nigeria to protest against the harsh Sharia punishments.
''There is nothing to be gained by not going to Nigeria... but I plan to protest against the ruling in interviews with journalists," she said.