No deaths by stoning, government official says

Nigeria's government has said it will not allow people to be stoned to death on the order of Shari’a courts. Junior Minister of Foreign Affairs Dubem Onyia said in a statement on Friday that the government was aware of widespread international concern over recent death sentences imposed by Islamic courts and would "use its constitutional powers to thwart any negative ruling which is deemed injurious to its people". "We restate that no person shall be condemned to death by stoning in Nigeria," he said. Nigeria has come under severe international pressure for the sentences, especially after a 31-year-old mother, Amina Lawal, was condemned to be stoned to death for adultery. This year’s Miss World beauty pageant, scheduled to be held in Nigeria in December, has faced boycotts by many would-be contestants in protest against the sentence. A total of 12 states in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north have adopted Islamic law in the past three years. Two other people have appealed against death sentences for adultery and one for rape. Nigeria’s federal government has repeatedly condemned the sentences as unconstitutional but had declined to intervene in deference to the country’s federal system. The latest statement is the strongest indication yet that it is ready to stop the sentences from being carried out.