Kano Muslims tell Christians to live with Sharia or leave
KANO, Nigeria, 3 March 2000 (Newsroom) -- Christians and other non-Muslims living in Kano state in northern Nigeria who cannot cope with the Sharia legal system should leave the state, a Muslim group has said. "Non Muslims should understand the fact that Sharia has permanently come to stay and even the National Council of States headed by President Olusegun Obasanjo has no right to stop its implementation in the state," Ibrahim Datti Ahmed of Muslim Ummah said at a press conference last week in the city of Kano. "If non-Muslims cannot stay in the state because of the existence of Sharia law, they can immediately vacate the place and move to other places of their interest," said Datti, a former presidential aspirant during a previous period of democracy in Nigeria. Islamic law (Sharia), which triggered religious riots in Kaduna in northwest Nigeria two weeks ago, was signed into law in Kano state on Wednesday. More than 300 people were killed in the Kaduna clash. Sharia is permitted under Nigeria's constitution for family law. Eight northern states, however, decided to implement Islamic or Sharia penal law as well, which many Nigerians consider unconstitutional. Sharia permits flogging, amputation and beheading for certain crimes. Lawsuits challenging the legality of Sharia have been filed in federal court in Lagos and in Zamfara state court. Kano's adoption of Islamic law came barely 24 hours after the National Council of States (NCS) agreed to suspend the implementation of Sharia law in the northern part of the country. The NCS is composed of the president, vice president, all 36 state governors and former heads of state. Two former Muslim heads of states contend that the NSC did not suspend Sharia, although some Muslim governors told reporters after the meeting that they had agreed not to implement Islamic law. Federal officials insist that the council did suspend Sharia law. Niger state has suspended the adoption of Sharia in compliance with the Tuesday agreement. Zamfara state, the first to introduce Islamic law, now says it will proceed as planned originally. Muslim Ummah, an influential Islamic organization from Kano, warned that "any attempt to reject Sharia will be rejected with all the legal force at our command as free citizens of democratic Nigeria. In Nigeria, the freedom of movement and of choice are protected by the constitution. So if any individual feels too uncomfortable with any set-up established by the majority in any state, he has the right to choose another state which he sees as a more congenial set-up to live in happily." Already many Christian non-indigenes are moving back to their states of origin in the south to avoid being attacked by Islamic militants. Kano, the economic capital of northern Nigeria has a history of religious riots, with Christians usually the victims. Apart from Kano, Christians in a majority of the northern states continue to live in fear despite assurances by state governors that they will be protected. Many non-indigenes who cannot return to the south have taken refuge in military barracks. ENDS