Nigeria 
Zamfara State bans fancy hairstyles

afrol News, 18 May - Fashionable young men are going to have a hard time living in Northern Nigeria where the predominantly Muslim Zamfara State House Assembly has outlawed trendy hairstyles. Zamfara practices strict Sharia law and acts against "foreign influences". 

Anyone caught dying their hair or sporting braids, punk or Mike Tyson hairstyles faces a US$ 4 fine and or seven-day jail sentence. The new law was sponsored by majority leader Muhammed Muntakka Rimi, who argued that it was time "indecent foreign haircuts" were outlawed.

Zamfara State was the first Nigerian state to introduce Sharia law in June 2000, a step threatening to split the Nigerian federation. Seven more northern states have now introduced the Muslim law. Zamfara further has been in forefront of implementing the law, also were it goes against te Nigerian Constitution. The state further promotes laws curbing "foreign influences".

Zamfara State made international headlines earlier this year when a teenage unmarried mother, who probably had been raped by elder men, was sentenced to flogging for pre-marital sex. The flogging caused protests from the UN child agency UNICEF.

Earlier this month, a Zamfara State court amputated a convicted thief's wrist. This was the second such punishment since the Sharia law was introduced in the state. In August 2000, two motorcycle taxi riders in Zamfara received lashes for having for carried female Muslim passengers.

The Nigerian federal government is currently preparing a new Constitution, which will need the approval of all 36 Nigerian states. Northern states already have made demands that the new Constitution opens for the use of the Sharia, as the current Constitution is seen as too Christian inspired. A narrow majority of Nigerians are Muslim, with most Muslims living in the north and most Christians in the south.

Sources: Based on African Eye News Service (AENS) and afrol archives

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