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A Christian group in northern Nigeria has condemned reports that churches there have been destroyed as part of efforts to entrench the Sharia (Islamic legal code), ‘The Guardian’ newspaper reported on Monday.
The Northern Christian Elders Forum (NORCEF) agreed at a general meeting in Kaduna at the weekend to resist any further demolition of churches which, it charged, “has become rampant in Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina and Zamfara, with the government of the states providing support for such action,” the daily reported.
NORCEF Chairman Adamu Baikie said the group was very concerned that churches were being destroyed, purportedly because they were built on land meant for homes. “There are many mosques built in residential areas ... even in cities, like in Kano, Zaria, Kebbi, Jigawa and Zamfara, and nothing has happened to them,” ‘The Guardian’ reported Baikie as saying. He added that “NORCEF is dismayed that in spite of the solemn undertaking that Sharia is applicable to Moslems only, Christians continue to suffer deprivation and molestation in all the so-called Sharia states.”
Some 10 northern states have adopted the Islamic legal code, which allows sentences such as whippings and amputation.
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