Lost in Sharia

Moments after lifting the stoning sentence of a young female adulterer, a Sharia court sentenced a Nigerian man to death by stoning for sodomy.

A spokesman for the court, Bala Ahmed, said Babaji had been sentenced after having confessed to sexually molesting [three] minors at different times over the past year, contrary to the Islamic law, or Sharia, in force in the state. [...]

The boys, whose ages were not given, said they had been lured into having sex with the man with an offer of 50 naira (about 30 US cents), according to the court official. ... They were each sentenced to receive 50 lashes of the cane for accepting the money.

Meanwhile, in other news: Nigeria launches a satellite into space.

A Nigerian satellite blasted into orbit Saturday aboard a Russian rocket, propelling one of the poorest nations on earth into space for the first time. [...]

On Earth, Nigeria is struggling to provide 132 million citizens with clean water, basic health services and education.

Most villages outside state capitals have no running water or electricity, 70 percent of the country's roads are dirt tracks, and more than 30 percent of the population is illiterate. Per capita income is about $290, and less than 1 percent have telephones, according to the World Bank.

Posted by Forkum at October 1, 2003 07:36 AM