Sharia judge flogged
2002-01-21 19:46
Gusau - An Islamic sharia court judge in northern Nigeria was whipped 80 times for public drunkenness, an official said on Monday.
Sharia court judge Muhammadu Naila was punished on Friday after an Upper Sharia Court in northeast Zamfara state convicted him for drinking alcohol, an official at the state Ministry for Religious Affairs said.
"He took alcohol, which is against sharia. By virtue of the fact that he broke the law he was supposed to protect, he was punished," said the official who asked not to be named.
Naila was whipped by an Upper Sharia Court judge in front of a large cheering crowd, the official said.
Many have previously complained that only the poor have been subjected to the harsh punishment prescribed by sharia which include amputation for stealing and death by stoning for adultery.
Treated 'equally'
"We have gone to great lengths to show we treat people equally, he was treated as any individual would be," the official said.
The official said Naila had been suspended from his job and was likely to be removed from office.
"It's impossible for him to stay," the official said. "He will not be a judge again. He cannot be a judge again."
The Vanguard newspaper said Naila had been found drunk in an illegal bar early last week.
Zamfara was the first of more than a dozen states to adopt the strict Islamic code as official state law after military rule ended in 1999.
The introduction of the law has led to bloody Christian-Muslim clashes that have killed thousands in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north.