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Islamic legal authorities in Zamfara have amputated the hand of a Muslim man found guilty of stealing a cow, in the first such action under Sharia penal codes introduced in this northern state in January, media organisations reported on Friday.
An official statement said the convict, Bello Garki Zangebi, had failed to meet a 30-day deadline to appeal against the sentence.
AFP reported that the sentence was carried out on Wednesday in a hospital in the state capital, Gusau, in defiance of a reported undertaking by northern governors that application of Sharia was being suspended.
The introduction of Sharia law has alarmed Christians in northern Nigeria and led to recent violent unrest in the country, in which hundreds of people died.
“The people were happy that the norms of Sharia were being carried out,” the BBC quoted a state government official as saying.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions