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Tag: Sharia Court

  • Zamfara govt dismisses report of alleged Sharia trial of Christian convert as fake news

    Zamfara govt dismisses report of alleged Sharia trial of Christian convert as fake news

    The Zamfara State Government has refuted a viral report claiming that a woman named Zainab Muhamadu, allegedly a Christian convert, is set to face trial in a Sharia court for changing her religion.

    In a statement issued on Tuesday by Sulaiman Idris, spokesperson to Governor Dauda Lawal, the government dismissed the report as entirely false and described it as a fabrication from social media sources seeking traffic and sensationalism.

    According to the statement, thorough investigations revealed that no such case exists in any Sharia Court within Zamfara State.

    “The attention of the Zamfara State Government has been drawn to mischievous fake news circulating about a 22-year-old Miss Zainab Muhamadu, who is facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity,” the statement read.

    “We want to categorically state that it is the handiwork of enemies of peace, who are hellbent on creating a tension where there is none. The fake news, which was spread on social media by an online platform notorious for circulating unverified stories and falsehoods, is nothing more than a failed attempt to disrupt peace.”

    The government further explained that it consulted with all relevant authorities and security agencies, including the Grand Khadi of the Zamfara Sharia Court of Appeal, who confirmed that “there has never been such a case before any Shari’a court in Zamfara State.”

    Raising concerns over the intent behind the story, the statement questioned: “The question is, where does this perilous and divisive narrative originate? What are its underlying motives? What do those promoting this story hope to accomplish in the long run?”

    It also criticised media platforms that disseminate unverified content, saying: “Media platforms that should provide the public with verified stories are becoming complacent, merely copying and pasting content from social media accounts eager for likes and comments.”

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    The government clarified that the woman whose photo was used in the report is not Nigerian, but an American named Aalia from Texas.

    “The Zamfara State Government believes it is essential to clarify that nothing of this nature is happening in the state. This situation exemplifies yellow journalism that we must all denounce,” the statement continued.

    Concluding, the government called on security agencies to trace the origin of the false story and ensure those responsible are brought to justice.

    “We urge the relevant security agencies to investigate the source of this fake, misguided story, which seeks to create significant religious tension, and prosecute anyone found responsible. We must all do our part to ensure the peace of this country,” the statement concluded.

  • Group kicks against planned inauguration of Sharia Court in Oyo

    Group kicks against planned inauguration of Sharia Court in Oyo

    Yoruba Regional Alliance Worldwide, comprising of various groups like Agbekoya, Soludero, OPC, hunters and others, has kicked against proposed inauguration of Sharia Court in Oyo town by some individuals.

    The group described the step as an attempt to disrupt peace in Yorubaland.

    Speaking with newsmen in Ibadan, the world chairman of the group, Arch. Opeoluwa George said the step was an attempt to cause chaos in Oyo town, its environs, Oyo State and Yorubaland in general, adding that it will also disrupt the progress and development of the State.

    According to him: “Yoruba people are historically peace loving and accomodating, we built our culture and traditions to the administration of people all over the world. Yoruba has not been adjudged bastion of religious tolerance and harmonious living worldwide.

    “It is in the interest of Oyo town and it’s environs, Oyo State and the rest of Yorubaland that we are saying inauguration of the Sharia Court is not allowed as it will lead to chaos and cause massive dislocation beyond the imagination of everyone.

    Read Also: SAN seeks creation of Sharia Court of Appeal in southwest

    “We totally reject and condemn it and we are calling on Oyo state government to forestall impending catastrophe by immediately putting a stop to any further preparation by those who initiated it to be inaugurated in Oyo town and it’s environment, Oyo state or any part of Southwest.”

    Responding to news that bandits from northern part of the country were infiltrating southwest, particularly Oyo State, George threatened that the group will resolve into self defence against bandits and insecurity in the region.

    He said gone were those days bandits will raid, maim and destroy towns and villages in Southwest, saying the group was ready to resolve into self help should there be need. 

  • SAN seeks creation of Sharia Court of Appeal in southwest

    SAN seeks creation of Sharia Court of Appeal in southwest

    …Aregbesola discourages Yoruba monarchs from adopting single religion 

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mahmud Adesina, has called for the creation of Sharia Court of Appeal in southwest of states instead of Sharia Panel. 

    The legal luminary speaking over the weekend when he was turbaned as the Wazeerul Muslimeen of Ifon Orolu community, Osun State which was graced by ex-Zamfara governor, Senator Ahmad Yerima and the former Osun governor, Rauf Aregbesola. 

    Adesina said: “We’ve heard alot of things about establishment of Sharia Panel in southwest states, I want to say that what we should agitate for is Sharia Court of Appeal in compliance totally with the provisions of Section 275,276 and 277 of the constitution of Nigeria. 

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    “The constitution explicitly provides for this by using the word ‘shall.’ While some states have Sharia panels to resolve disputes among Muslims, they lack enforcement powers. Such enforcement can only be achieved through the establishment of Sharia Courts of Appeal, as already outlined in our constitution.”

    Earlier, the erstwhile Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola discouraged Yoruba traditional monarchs against practising one religion. 

    He said: “Kings in Yorubaland don’t adhere to a single religion. No Yoruba king can be exclusively Muslim, Christian, or traditionalist. Unless the monarch is not truly Yoruba. 

    “A Yoruba monarch must participate in all religious practices. Whether it’s the Egungun festival, Islamic prayers, or Christian celebrations, you must be involved. That’s how Almighty God created the Yoruba people.”

  • dRPC trains 50 Sharia Court judges, 40 Imams on GBV

    dRPC trains 50 Sharia Court judges, 40 Imams on GBV

    At least 50 Sharia judges from Kaduna and Kano States have been trained in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) as part of efforts to prevent its escalation in Northern Nigeria.

    Speaking at the one-day seminar for the Sharia judges at Bafara Hotel, Kaduna at the weekend, the Project Coordinator, Ahmad Abdullahi Ahmad, said the seminar, which was sponsored by the Department of Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), aimed to enhance the judges’ understanding of the Islamic perspective on GBV.

    According to him: “What you are seeing today is the outcome of a peer-to-peer study tour undertaken by Muslim opinion leaders and Imams to Egypt. While in Egypt, they engaged with esteemed Islamic institutions like Al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti. The insights and lessons learned from that experience gave birth to this training.”

    “We are not here to teach you (the judges) what to do, but we are here to enhance your understanding of how you can improve your knowledge of the legal frameworks regarding GBV.”

    He said the training was also intended to improve their understanding of how Islamic principles can be utilized alongside legal mechanisms to prevent harm to women and girls.

    According to him, “Fifty Sharia court judges drawn from Kano and Kaduna participated in the seminar.”

    During the training of the 40 Imams drawn from Kano and Kaduna, Kano Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Ahmed Tijjani Auwal lamented women in Northern Nigeria, were being neglected, abused and denied a lot of opportunities in terms of education, empowerment and jobs.

    “We are dealing with prevention of GBV more especially in the northern part of the country, we are looking a what Islam says about cases of GBV. What Islam says to protect women and children from several cases of sexual violence cases, domestic violence and psychological abuse.

    “The development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) has put a lot of efforts by taking delegation to Egypt sponsored by them. We learnt a lot from Islamic scholars in Egypt . The purpose of this training is to step down all we learnt in Egypt to our Imams more especially the Imams that come from rural areas where there is so much lack of education and so much lack of awareness on the issue of women.

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    “Women are being neglected, abused, denied a lot of opportunities in terms of education, empowerment, jobs etc. This is very important because after carefully selected this Imams , they have the capacity to spread the message to other Imams. Some perceive Islam as giving men advantage over the women, which most of our people interpret wrongly so, it doesn’t say that that a man is more powerful than a woman in the sense she can take anything the man imposed on her, it’s not like that. We learn a lot.

    “They opened our eyes in Egypt more especially on verses of Holy Quran and Hadith of Holy prophet that talked about the rights of women and children. We are going to give them more understanding on those verses and what they mean. There are lot of question where inheritance comes, in Islam inheritance . They are a lot of places where women take more than the men in inheritance and we have verses to back it up. dRPC is taking the right step in the right direction in trying to take the women out of the bush.

    “We are also going to tell the women on how to asses their own rights Islamically without over stepping their boundaries. When we talk of gender, we are talking about male and female. We have seen boys been abused. We are trying to protect them. The existing laws are weak and we have seen a lot development in terms of laws and health because when we talk about women we talk about health,” he said.

  • I no longer love my husband – Housewife seeking divorce tells court

    A housewife, Aishatu Mohammed, on Thursday prayed a Sharia Court in Minna for the dissolution of her marriage, saying she has fallen out of love with her husband.

    Mohammed told the court that she no longer adores her husband, Tanimu, whom she has been married to for 10 years without a child.

    “My husband feeds and takes good care of me and does every other thing expected of a man but I don’t love him anymore.

    READ ALSO: My husband is a thief, fraudster – Divorce seeking wife

    “And that is why I am asking this honorable court to dissolve our marriage. Tanimu, however, said he still loved his wife and wouldn’t want them to go their separate ways.

    He prayed the court to give him some time to try and prevail on his wife to change her stance.

    The presiding judge, Ahmed Bima, advised the couple to patch things up, adding that marriage required patience and understanding.

    Bima adjourned the matter untill April 29 for report of settlement

  • Sharia Court jails man six months for eloping with lover

    A Kano Sharia Court, presided over by Mallam Nura Yusuf, has sentenced Salisu Musa to six months’ imprisonment for eloping with his lover from Nassarawa State to Kano.

    The Nation learnt that the accused was held when residents of Kura Local Government, where he lived with his lover, informed the Hisbah Command of his suspicious movement.

    After a few days of surveillance, the Hisbah operatives confirmed that the lovers were not married, went to the house where they lived for the past 10 days and apprehended them.

    Consequently, the command arraigned them and the accused confessed to have eloped with the girl without her parents’ knowledge and even had sex with her for 10 days.

    The girl told reporters that Musa insisted that she must follow him because he could not leave Nassarawa for Kano without her, because of his love for her.

    “He forced me to follow him,” she added.

    The girl said she had no option but to succumb to his pleas and follow him to Kura town where they had sex for 10 days, despite that she confessed to him that she was HIV positive.

    “He said he cannot contract the disease because his blood is resistant to the virus.”

    The accused said he eloped with his lover, to save her from harassment by her parents, but could not ascertain that she was HIV positive until when she asked him to escort her to hospital to collect her routine retroviral drugs.

    He added that he was astonished by the discovery and regretted his actions.

    The command said plans had been made to take the girl back to her parents in Nassarawa State.

  • Muslim community demands Sharia Court

    The Muslim community in Lagos State has demanded the establishment of a Sharia Court that will adjudicate cases concerning Muslims.

    They spoke in Lagos at an interactive session with the governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Mr. Owolabi Salis.

    The community said it needed a Sharia Court “because Muslims’ affairs are being decided by people who know nothing about Islamic laws.”

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    Salis promised to set up a committee to look into the request if elected as governor. He said religious leaders must oppose injustice.

    The event was attended by Muslim clerics from Ikorodu, Epe, Badagry, Ikeja and other areas in Lagos.

  • Sharia Court affirms 4-month-old baby’s paternity

    A Kaduna Sharia Court sitting at Magajin Gari yesterday ruled that Ibrahim Musa was the father of the four-month-old baby girl delivered by his wife, Aisha Buhari.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Aisha had on July 2, dragged her husband before the court following his refusal to accept paternity of the baby she delivered.

    The Judge, Malam Dahiru Lawal, after listening to both parties and their witnesses, said that under Islamic law, Musa could not now deny paternity of the baby after knowledge of his wife’s pregnancy two weeks after their marriage.

    “In Islam when one suspects his wife of infidelity and is in doubt of the legitimacy of her pregnancy, he must raise alarm and inform his guardian and that of his wife immediately.

    “ But when a man continues having marital affairs with his wife even after the knowledge of the pregnancy without showing contempt then it means he has accepted the pregnancy. That means he is the father to the child and would take full responsibility of the child”, the judge ruled.

    NAN recalled that the respondent, who was represented by a lawyer, was asked to present himself to the court on July 16.

    Musa during hearing of the case had told the court that he denied paternity of the baby because she was given birth to five months after their marriage.

     

     

     

  • My husband is a debtor, says divorce-seeking wife

    A woman on Friday urged a Sharia Court in Minna to dissolved her seven-year-old marriage over husband’s indebtedness to her.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Fatima had approached the court seeking the dissolution of her marriage to Ibrahim Mohammed over unsettled debt of N100, 000.

    She said her husband borrowed the money immediately they got married and had since not paid.

    Read Also:Housewife remanded for killing husband with `rat poison’

    She also accused her husband of not performing his duty of feeding her, the children and taking care of other needs.

    Mohammed denied the allegations, but said he too was no longer interested in the marriage.

    He, however, did not object to the wife’s request for a divorce.

    He accused his wife of not taking good care of his children as well as starving him of sex.

    In his ruling, the judge, Mr. Ahmed Bima, adjourned the case until June 8 for the dissolution of the marriage and to look into the counter-claims of the husband.

  • Housewife seeks divorce over lack of food, maintenance

    A housewife, Aisha Mohammed, on Tuesday  approached a Sharia Court in Minna seeking the dissolution of her marriage to her husband, Mohammed Shaba for not providing food in the house.

    Mohammed also accused Shaba of failing to provide funds for her general maintenance for the past seven months.

    “For the past seven months, my husband has not lived up to his responsibility of putting food on the table at home.

    “He has also failed in providing for my general maintenance and I cannot bear it anymore.

    “That is why I am begging this honourable court to bring the marriage to an end by doing the needful,” she said.

    Shaba, however, denied his wife’s claims saying he had always done his best for her.

    He maintained that he still loved his wife and would not want them to go their separate ways.

    In his ruling, the presiding Judge, Ahmed Bima advised the couple to give peace a chance, adding that marriage requires a lot of patience and understanding.

    Bima said that he would give the couple a chance to try and resolve their differences amicably’.

    He, therefore, adjourned the case until May 21, for report of settlement.

    Read Also: Woman seeks divorce over husband’s indifference to childlessness