Parliament In Nigerian Riot City Passes Islamic Law Compromise
LAGOS, Feb 9 (News Agencies) - The state assembly in northern Nigeria's Kaduna State, which was the scene of major religious riots a year ago, has passed a law it hopes will ease tensions.
The assembly passed the law sent to the assembly in early October on Thursday, a spokesman for Governor Ahmed Makarfi said Friday.
"The bill was passed. We believe, we hope, the issue is now going to be settled," spokesman Musa Lukman said.
The law passed by the assembly provides for the extension of existing Islamic law covering just family matters to criminal matters, providing for strict Islamic punishments demanded by Muslims.
But in the religiously divided city, Christians will not be affected by the code and the mainly Christian southern parts of the state will be untouched by the system, Lukman said.
In a further compromise, traditional or native custom courts will be set up in the southern areas and the state's existing high courts will act as the appeal courts over both systems.
Kaduna will be the 10th state in northern Nigeria to introduce or extend the Islamic Sharia code since the country returned to civilian rule last year.
Riots erupted last year during a protest called by Christians against calls by Muslims for Islamic law to be imposed on Kaduna. More than 2,000 people died in the riots.
