'Caning' victim drops assault charges
2001-01-11 10:33
Kano, Nigeria - A Nigerian Christian man who was flogged by two Muslim youths after being found with a half-consumed bottle of gin on New Years Eve has withdrawn charges of assault.
Livinus Obi, 50, on Tuesday withdrew his charges against Anwalu Garba, 24, and Umar Suleiman, 26, after coming under pressure from the local community, he told reporters on Wednesday.
Obi was caned 80 times by the two young men who belong to Hizbah, a monitoring group set up to enforce adherence to the Islamic law code the Sharia brought into force last year.
The code bans the drinking of alcohol but is not supposed to be applied to non-Muslims. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA