Should Safiya Die: By Chikodi Okerecha

Lawyers, non - governmental organisations protest sharia court death sentence on a pregnant divorcee and mother of four. V

Criticisms have continued to trail the death sen-tence by stoning passed on Safiya Hussaini by an upper sharia court in Gwadabawa, Sokoto State on October 10. Safiya, a 30-year-old mother of four was alleged to have become pregnant after committing adultery with one Yakubu Abubakar, a 33-year-old man who denied responsibility for the woman’s pregnancy.

Muhammed Bello Seyinnal, the trial court judge said that the convict confessed to committing adultery, an offence

punishable by stoning to death based on Islamic law. The judge said that his judgment was based purely on Islamic jurisprudence. He ruled that since Safiya was an expectant mother, the sentence would take effect after she delivers and weans the child.

Her fate has attracted public interest. Bola Ige, minister for justice and attorney-general of the federation said the federal government would not fold its hands and watch Safiya stoned to death. He promised that the federal government would challenge the sentence passed by the sharia court. He said that by the 1999 constitution every citizen of the country had a right to life and that the federal government was determined to ensure that Safiya’s right to life was not denied her.

Florence Aya, chairman of the house committee on women affairs, said that the speaker, Ghali Umar Na’Abba and his deputy, Chibudom Nwuche had already waded into the matter since according to her “Safiya must not be allowed to die.”

But Janet Adeyemi, a member of the committee said at a press conference in Abuja, November 19, that the House of Representatives has had its hands tied, since according to her the sharia law under which Safiya was tried and convicted was recognised by the 1999 constitution. She said that the house committee could do little and that attempts to raise the matter by members as of urgent national importance were unsuccessful. She said that the committee had resorted to the use of non-governmental organisations, NGOs to try to save Safiya’s life. Adeyemi re-iterated the need to balance the provisions of the sharia with the right to life, adding that the constitution needed to be amended to resolve the divergent issues.

Halima Abdullahi, director of Help Eliminate Loneliness and Poverty, HELP, a non-governmental organisation, also faulted the verdict. In a statement she issued last week, she said “it was a thorough embarrassment” to majority of Nigerian Muslims. The group argued that the judgment was wrong because Safiya was accused of adultery instead of fornication since she was a divorcee. Again, four witnesses stipulated by the Islamic law were not available at the trial. The verdict was passed because Safiya comes from an under-privileged class, the organisation argued. While describing the verdict as “gender discrimination of the highest order,” the group called on Governor Attahiru Bafarawa to intervene to save Safiya’s life.

The Coalition of Eastern NGOs, CENGOs, an umbrella organisation of NGOs operating in the south-east and south-south of Nigeria said in a press release signed by its co-ordinators, Oby Nwankwo and Miriam Menkilu, last week that it was opposed to the death sentence. It said the judgment amounted to selective justice which was contrary to the basis of the principle of rule of law and sense of justice. The body said that a situation where the target of the implementation of a law was a particular sex, ran contrary to the tenets of human rights, equity and justice and contradicted all known principles of international norms. They, therefore, called on the Sokoto State governor to intervene in the matter to ensure that justice was not only done but also seen to have been done.

But Abubakar Sanyinma, commissioner for justice and attorney-general in Sokoto State insisted that the decision of the upper sharia court was irreversible. He said the federal government had no right to prevent the state government from executing any judgment passed by sharia courts in the state. He said that Safiya had the right to appeal to the Sharia Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court where there is a panel of sharia judges, and if she failed she would certainly face execution according to Islamic law.

Related Links:

 

1. Amnesty International Take Action
   ... from Death by Stoning Nigeria Safiya Yakubu Hussaini, a 30-year-old woman and a
   resident of Tungar-Tudu in Sokoto State in northern Nigeria, was tried in a ...
   https://www.amnesty-usa.org/action/nigeria11142001.html

2. Appello urgente - Johhny Paul Penry
   NO to the Death Penalty International Campaign. pdm_s.gif (3224 byte).
   Urgent appeals, Safiya Hussaini Tungar - Tudu Nigeria. News. ...
   https://www.santegidio.org/en/pdm/news/ap_safir.htm
   More Results From: www.santegidio.org

3. allAfrica.com: Death By Stoning: Woman in Hiding
   ... Safiya had no defence, said the judge. In the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence
   which guides the adjudication of Sharia judges in Northern Nigeria, the ...
   https://allafrica.com/stories/200111010492.html
   More Results From: allafrica.com

4. Nigeria : condamnation à mort d'une femme selon la Charia ( ...
   ... décision prise par une cour islamique du nord du Nigeria de condamner à mort par
   lapidation, Safiya Hussaini Tungar-Tudu après l'avoir déclarée coupable ...
   https://www.hrw.org/french/press/2001/nigeria1023-fr.htm
   More Results From: www.hrw.org

5. Soutenons Safiya Tungar-Tudu
   ... la cause de Safiya Tungar-Tudu ! mon adresse email : message : Les signatures
   recueillies seront acheminées vers le site de la présidence du Nigeria.
   https://www.afrik.com/petition_main.php
   More Results From: www.afrik.com

6. Yahoo! Politics - Issue Watch - www.feminist.org - ...
   ... SOKOTO, NIGERIA Safiya Hussaini Tungar Dudu has become the first woman to be sentenced
   to death by stoning under the Nigerian state of Sokoto's new Islamic ...
   https://politics.yahoo.com/politics/issue_watch/organization/fmf1/CA65700fmf1/
   More Results From: politics.yahoo.com

7. Feminist Majority Foundation Global Daily News Wire
   ... Sex - An Islamic court in Sokoto state in northern Nigeria last week sentenced Safiya
   Hussaini Tungar Dudu to death by stoning for having pre-marital sex. .. ...
   https://www.feminist.org/Global/globalwire.php?offset=10
   More Results From: www.feminist.org

8. MENTELOCALE - Il primo portale con i piedi per terra - fai ...
   ... Magli e Oriana Fallaci. Ah, in Nigeria c'e' una ragazza di nome Safiya che sta per
   dare alla luce un bambino concepito fuori del matrimonio. Secondo la shaarya ...
   https://www.mentelocale.it/menteforum/america/00000811?expand_all=1
   More Results From: www.mentelocale.it

9. United Nations agencies sharpen strategies against FGM
   ... their involvement and commitment to moving women’s issues forward," said Safiya
   Muhammad of Nigeria’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development and ...
   https://www.unfpa.org/modules/dispatch/issues99/apr99/fgm.htm
   More Results From: www.unfpa.org

10. Nigeria HomeCook News Page
    ... Safiya: Group accuses judge, lawyers of gender bias Obasanjo orders Army to ... in Katsina.
    Izuogu denies report on Saraki. Urhobo blames Nigeria's woes on military. ...
    https://www.nigeriainfonet.com/nigeria_homecook_news_page.htm
    More Results From: www.nigeriainfonet.com

11. Mailgate.ORG Web Server: soc.culture.nigeria
    ... death sentence against Safiya Hussaini, Marie Froeßl NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER
    THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES, odua peoples congress Nigeria shipyard privatisation ...
    https://www.mailgate.org/soc/soc.culture.nigeria/
    More Results From: www.mailgate.org

12. Islamic Human Right Violations : Death By Stoning: Woman in ...
    ... Northern Nigeria, the manifestation of pregnancy is sufficient proof of cuulpability
    of adultery for women. At the time of her appearance at the court, Safiya ...
    https://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/news1/an011104-14.html
    More Results From: www.gospelcom.net

13. news3
    ... on Wednesday that Nigeria's federal ministry of women affairs had filed an appeal
    at the state's Sharia Appeal Court. The woman, Safiya Hussaini Tungar-Tudu ...
    https://www.ncadp.org/html/news3.html
    More Results From: www.ncadp.org

14. Womens Economic Rights> :WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY STONING
    ... Sir, PETITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY BY STONING AGAINST SAFIYA HUSSAINI TUNGAR-TUDU
    Women's Right Watch Nigeria wish to protest vehemently the violation of the ...
    https://www.kabissa.org/lists/archives/public/womenseconomicrights-conference/2001-October/000050.htm l
    More Results From: www.kabissa.org

15. Feminist Media Watch # 275: "death penalty in Nigeria"
    ... death penalty in Nigeria posted by beth at 08:47 AM PST: It's not just Afghanistan
    and the Taleban we should be worried about. Hajiya Safiya Hussain has been ...
    https://f-word.org/watch/past/00000275.html
    More Results From: f-word.org

16. Woman to die for adultery
    ... Islamic legal code was introduced in various parts of Nigeria last year. A middle-aged
    woman, Safiya Hussaini Tungar Tudu, was condemned to death by stoning ...
    https://www.gamji.com/oct13-10.htm
    More Results From: www.gamji.com

17. Anyim decries bias of justice in Sharia
    ... odds of burden of proof and weight of evidence vis-à-vis the plight of Safiya in
    the course of your deliberation at this First Nigeria Human Rights Summit. ...
    https://www.vanguardngr.com/news/articles/2001/November/03112001/wn331101.htm
    More Results From: www.vanguardngr.com

18. nig008 Nigerian woman sentenced to death for pre-marital sex
    ... 24 October - The Islamic court in Gwadabawa, Sokoto State, in northern Nigeria
    sentenced Safiya Hussaini Tungar-Tudu to death by stoning after finding her ...
    https://www.afrol.com/News2001/nig008_sharia_women.htm
    More Results From: www.afrol.com

19. Black Women Today - Content Articles
    ... the Washington-based Federal Republic of Nigeria Ambassador Professor Jibril M.Aminu
    said ... added that he was confident Safiya Hussaini would not be stoned to ...
    https://www.tbwt.com/blackwomentoday/content/article.php?articleid=2324
    More Results From: www.tbwt.com

Previous Page

 

 

 

---

---