The Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre,...

The Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre, [WARDC] a non-governmental organization, condemned the death sentence passed on Satiya Hussaina Tunger-Tudu for alleged adultery by an upper sharia court in Gwadebawa, in the northern Sokoto State.
In a campaign tagged "Satiya must not die" the group warned that the legal pronouncement by the shari'ah court is capable of upsetting the democratic system.
Speaking during the campaign held at WARDC head office in Lagos the co-ordinator Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi said: "The sentence on Satiya is a case of an injustice to one, a threat to millions, an aberration of injustice and a gross constitutional misconduct, reflecting the decadence in our legal system".
Afolabi lamented the degenerate level of implementation of the shari'ah law which, according to her, has put strict restrictions on the rights of women.
She cited some cases in Zamfara State [northwestern Nigeria] where a 17-year-old, Bariya Mugazu, was sentenced to 100 lashes for pleading guilty to fornication, while the three suspects she mentioned were discharged for want of evidence.
A similar case in August involved another 20-year-old Zamfara lady who was also given 100 lashes publicly after admitting to having extra-marital affairs.
Afolabi further described the punishing of a woman for exercising her "right to control over her body" as a gross violation of her fundamental right to liberty, as enshrined in the constitution.
She accused the shari'ah legal code for failing to draw a line between "acts which are innocent and those which are offensive."