Senate president condemns woman's death sentence

Nigeria's Senate president Anyim Pius Anyim on Thursday condemned a ruling by an Islamic court in northern Nigeria that sentenced a woman to death by stoning after finding her guilty of having pre-marital sex, news reports said.

According to Anyim, the sentence was reprehensible because it reflected elements of "selective justice" since the man was exonerated, the 'Guardian' newspaper reported. Anyim was speaking at the country's first human rights summit in the capital Abuja.

"For avoidance of doubt, this is not an opinion on merit or demerit of Sharia Court system. However, I am worried by the selective punishment of the woman adulteress and selective acquittal of the male adulterer for want of evidence by the presiding judge," he said.

The sentence has also drawn condemnation from local and international human rights organisations. The local media reported on Wednesday that Nigeria's federal ministry of women affairs had filed an appeal at the state's Sharia Appeal Court. The woman, Safiya Hussaini Tungar-Tudu who is pregnant, has also appealed against the ruling.