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afrol.com, 22 January - In a surprising act, the Shari'a sentence of 100 lashes against a single, teenage mother in northern Nigeria has been carried through. Bariya Ibrahim Magazu, between 14 and 17 years old, was sentenced for having pre-marital sex in September, after three elder men had forced her into having sex. In a case that has polarised the Nigerians, the Shari'a Court in the northern state of Zamfara in September 2000 sentenced the pregnant teenager to 100 lashes for pre-martial sex. Asked to identify the father, she named three elder, married men that had taken advantage of her. As the men denied having had sex with her (the penalty for adultery being stoning to death), she was sentenced to 80 more lashes for having made a false statement. Nigerian and international human rights have protested strongly against the verdict. Bariya thus was to receive 180 lashes, but the punishment was postponed to 40 days after the childbirth. The child being born in mid-December, rights groups thought they had until 27 January to appeal against the ruling. Protests from the Canadian Government and pressure from the Federal Nigerian Government gave the local authorities second thoughts on the verdict. Last week, therefore, trial judge Idris Usman Gusau allegedly suspended the sentence for "at least 12 months while she suckles her child." This was taken a sign of goodwill and gave Bariya's team of pro bono lawyers reason to believe they had better time to prepare an appeal. The sudden logging of Bariya therefore came as a shock. Bariya received 100 strokes of the cane on Friday at Shari'a Court in her hometown of Tsafe. Court officials, who admitted there had been procedural errors, thus reduced the sentence of 180 lashes. A BBC correspondent in Zamfara reports that "Bariya had not been badly hurt by the flogging, and though bruised, she was able to walk away." Analysts say this will come as an embarrassment to the Nigerian Government, which has not dared to challenge the eight northern Nigerian states that have introduced the Shari'a penal code in defiance of the federal Constitution. The predominantly Christian south of the country is becoming increasingly alienated with practices in the north. Nigerian and international human rights groups have already protested against the flogging, expressing outrage and surprise. The women's rights group BAOBAB, which was preparing Bariya's appeal, especially expressed shock over the sudden carrying out of the sentence. BAOBAB was asked by Bariya and her family in November to assist them in appealing against the verdict. As representatives from the organisation saw the Governor of Zamfara State, he refused to consider executive clemency on the grounds that this would be detrimental to Islam. The Governor continued to maintain this stance, despite appeals from the federal Government. According to information gathered by BAOBAB, no witnesses were called to testify that she had consented willingly. Quoting newspaper reports, Bariya Magazu had stated in court that she was coerced into having sexual intercourse. Other reports state that this was at the instance of her father, who owed money to the three men. As is usually the case at this level of court in Nigeria, neither Bariya, nor the men she named as possible fathers of her baby, had legal representation. The rights organisation was planning to prosecute, arguing that, "bearing in mind her youth, there needs to be witnesses to testify that Bariya consented willingly to sexual intercourse." The appeal by Bariya's lawyers would have been the first of its kind in Nigeria since the Shari'a was first introduced in Zamfara last year. The introduction of the Shari'a, or mere plans of it, has sparked inter-religious and ethnic riots in several northern and central Nigerian states. The Shari'a is especially feared for its many unfavourable aspects regarding equal gender rights, a typical example being that it takes the testimony of two women to equal the testimony of one man. The Bariya case has not been the first example of the realisation of the fears of Nigerian women's rights groups. In the Nigerian north central state of Niger, single women have been forced to abandon their homes and take refuge in military barracks for fear of arrests, according to an IPS report. The Shari'a Implementation Committee in the state had decreed that any unmarried woman will be forcibly given out in marriage in compliance with Islamic law and to enforce the ban on prostitution. Sources:
Based onBAOBAB, BBC, IPS and afrol archives
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