Kano won't bow to pressure

2004-05-28 18:40

Kano - The hardline government of northern Nigeria's Kano State declared on Friday that external pressure will not force it to pardon 12 young convicted thieves who are due under Islamic law to have a hand chopped off.

Kano is one of a dozen mainly Muslim Nigerian states to have reintroduced Sharia law since 1999, and is the densely-populated commercial heart of the north, but thus far no amputations have been carried out there.

State justice commissioner Aliyu Umar told reporters that the 12 convicts were at various stages of the appeal process, but warned: "We will not commit the acts of cowardice that were committed in Katsina and Sokoto."

Katsina and Sokoto states are home to Amina Lawal and Safiya Husseini, two young village housewives who were found guilty of adultery and sentenced to be stoned to death, only to be cleared on appeal following an international outcry.

Between November 2001 and August 2003, 12 men aged between 18 and 25 were sentenced to amputation for theft in Kano. All are in prison.

"All the convicts have appealed and their appeals are at different stages. I assure you none of the convictions will be executed until all avenues of appeal are exhausted," Umar said.

"If any of the appeal courts returns a verdict on these appeals which we feel is not right we will challenge the verdict at the next stage of appeal, but if we are satisfied with the verdict we will accept it," he added.

In April last year Governor Ibrahim Shekarau came to power in Kano after defeating his predecessor, an ally of Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, at the polls, promising to strictly enforce Sharia rules in all areas of life.

- SAPA