P.M. News (Lagos)
11 January 2001
Lagos — Canadian Foreign Minister, John Manley said on Tuesday he was worried by what he called the "appalling case" of a young Nigerian girl who has been sentenced to 180 lashes for having illegal sex.
Bariya Magazu, 17 was convicted last September by a Sharia court of engaging in premarital sex. Magazu, who said she was coerced into having intercourse with three of her father's acquaintances, had a baby at the end of last year.
A judge in the northern state of Zamfara has set the date for the punishment as January 27. Human rights groups say 180 lashes is tantamount to a death sentence.
"The Nigerian case is an appalling case and I think Canadians are quite disturbed by the situation. We've made a number of interventions again with the Nigerian government," Manley told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
"We've been asking Nigeria to respect their own commitments (and) the universal declaration of human rights, and we're hopeful our messages are being heard by them and received by them."
Canada's high commissioner to Nigeria has already lodged a formal protest about Magazu's sentence and Manley said the Nigerian high commissioner to Canada had been summoned to the foreign ministry in Ottawa this week.
At least, one Canadian family has offered to adopt the girl in a bid to forestall the lashing.
"The cloak of religious law cannot be used to justify a sentence like flogging a teenager to death. Those who would tolerate or condone the flogging of Ms Magazu must hear the roar of outrage from the world," the Vancouver Sun said in an editorial on Monday.
Nigeria has been sharply divided over the strict Sharia penal code since late 1999 when Zamfara State embraced it. Hundreds of people died in clashes between Christians and Muslims over plans to introduce Sharia in neighbouring Kaduna State last year.
Non-Muslims oppose Sharia for its tough sanctions, such as stoning for adultery and the amputation of hands for theft.
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