Suit In Nigeria Challenges Arabic On Currency As Violating Secular Status of Country

This Day reports on a suit heard yesterday by Nigeria's Federal High Court challenging Arabic inscriptions on Nigerian currency. Plaintiff in the suit claims that the inscriptions portray Nigeria as an Islamic state, violating its secular constitutional status. Defending the use of Arabic script, the Central Bank of Nigeria argued that it is not a symbol of Islam, but is merely used to aid non-English speakers who are literate in Arabic and use it in trade.

Nigerian Court Sentences Musician To Death For Blasphemy

 BBC News reports:

A musician in Nigeria's northern state of Kano has been sentenced to death by hanging for blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad.

An upper Sharia court in the Hausawa Filin Hockey area of the state said Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, 22, was guilty of committing blasphemy for a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March.

Mr Sharif-Aminu did not deny the charges.

Judge Khadi Aliyu Muhammad Kani said he could appeal against the verdict....

Only one of the death sentences passed by Nigeria's Sharia courts has been carried out since they were reintroduced in 1999.

Trump Extends Some Travel Ban Restrictions To Six More Countries

In an exceptionally long Presidential Proclamation (full text), President Trump on Friday extended tailored restrictions under his controversial travel ban to immigrants (but not temporary visitors) from six additional countries. As explained by a News Release from the Department of Homeland Security:

.... For four countries – Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Nigeria – the President has imposed travel restrictions on immigrant visas.

The reason is straightforward – individuals who have entered the U.S. on immigrant visas are challenging to remove even if, after admission into the U.S., the individual is linked to disqualifying information such as terrorist connections, criminal ties, or misrepresented information. 

 And because each of these countries have deficiencies in sharing terrorist, criminal or identity information, it is likely that information reflecting that a visa applicant is a threat may not be available at the time the visa or entry is approved. This is unacceptable.

 Two countries – Sudan and Tanzania – performed marginally better and the President decided to impose travel restrictions on Diversity Visas.  This is a less severe sanction compared to the general restriction on immigrant visas, given the significantly fewer number of aliens affected....

... [T]his Proclamation only restricts entry on certain categories of immigrant visas. Family members can still visit their loved ones, businesses can still employ qualified candidates, and other visits can take place on a temporary basis with a non-immigrant visa.

DHS also issued this shorter news release. Vox has more on the President's action.

Nigerian Court Bars Shiite Group as Terrorists

Legit reported today that the Nigerian federal government has obtained a court order banning the Shiite group Islamic Movement in Nigeria on the ground that it is a terrorist group. A Federal High Court justice, Nkeonye Maha, issued the order and designated the activities of the Shiite movement in any part of Nigeria "as acts of terrorism and illegality".

Jewish Worshipers In Nigeria Arrested; Most Later Released On Bail

The Oracle reports that in Nigeria, nine Jewish worshipers were arrested on May 13 on charges of terrorism.  Eight of the nine were released on bail on Monday.  The ninth was still held because his file had disappeared. The arrests occurred while the nine were praying at the country home of Biafran separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu who considers himself Jewish.  Defendants' lawyer accuses the state of religious persecution, and says that anyone identifying with Kanu has become the target of Nigerian security forces.

Nigerian Lawyer's Group Denies Law School Grad Bar Admission Because of Hijab

According to a report on Friday from Al Jazeera, the Lagos-based Nigerian Law School has refused to allow a Muslim woman graduate to receive her call to the bar (i.e. be sworn in as a lawyer) because she insists on wearing her hijab under her traditional barrister's wig.  On Dec. 12, the Body of Benchers refused to allow Amasa Firdaus Abdulsalam to enter the Conference Centre where the call to the bar is held because she was in violation of the Law School's dress code.

In Nigeria, Christian Students React To Ruling On Hijabs In Schools

Christian students in middle schools and high schools in the Osun State in Nigeria are upset about a June 3 Osun State High Court ruling holding that Muslim women students at the schools have a right to wear the hijab.  According to Tuesday's Premium Times, this is seen by Christian students as a breach of the understanding arrived at in 1975 when the state government took over schools originally founded by Christian missionaries. They see the court's decision as suggesting that wearing a hijab is a means of propagating Islam.  So at the urging of the Christian Association of Nigeria, on Tuesday Christian students showed up at school wearing Christian robes and vestments. Meanwhile, the High Court ruling has been appealed and teachers are attempting to ignore the controversy and continue teaching their classes as usual.

Nigerian State Will Monitor Churches and Mosques To Fight Hate Preaching

Vanguard reports today that in Nigeria, the Lagos state governor's office says it will take action to combat religious intolerance:

State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr. Abdulhakeem Abdullateef, explained that the government would stop any religion leader who preaches hate messages that is capable of endangering people’s freedom.  According to him, "Henceforth, we’ll start to monitor mosques and churches and ensure that clerics do not engage in hate preaching."...

Let it be known to residents that henceforth, Lagos government in collaboration with Nigeria Inter- Religious Council (NIREC), will not tolerate hate preachers. These are the people who do not preach their religion but continue to spread mischief about people of other religions. We will not tolerate religious intolerance.

Suit By Catholic Challenges Nigeria's Requirements For Christian Marriages

In Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association,  has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of provisions of the Marriage Act and the Matrimonial Causes Act. According to yesterday's This Day, the suit brought in the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court contends that the Marriage Act forces Agbakoba, a Catholic, to be married in a secular ceremony rather than in accordance with Canon Law in violation of his constitutionally protected right of religious freedom.  According to the complaint:

The Marriage Act and the Matrimonial Causes Act subject the sacrament of holy matrimony to state certification thus constrained the Applicant to contract a secular marriage. But the ATR [African traditional Religion] adherents, Muslims, and traditionalists are enabled by the Nigerian legal system to contract valid marriages under their religious codes without state intervention or further ‘validation’ by a Marriage Registry or other civil authority under a secular statute.

Agbakoba also claims that the Matrimonial Causes Act is discriminatory by requiring Christians to resolve marital disputes through the civil courts by judges who are not knowledgeable in Canon law, while Muslims may use Islamic courts and adherents of African Traditional Religions may use Customary Courts.

Nigerian Court Upholds Ban On Head Scarves In Public Schools

According to AFP, in Nigeria on Friday a judge on the High Court in Lagos upheld the Lagos State government's ban on wearing of the hijab (Muslim head scarf) in public schools. In upholding the ban introduced last year, the court said in part:

The ban on the use of hijab in public schools in Lagos is not a breach of the applicants' fundamental rights to religion because Nigeria as a secular state does not adopt any religion as a state religion.

Removing the ban on the hijab will be tantamount to promoting a particular religion against the others and this may lead to social tensions.

The  Muslim Students Society of Nigeria which brought the challenge says it will appeal.

Nigeria Bans Religious Gatherings To Stop Ebola Spread; Group Threatens Lawsuit

In Nigeria, Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu has banned religious gatherings as a way to prevent the spread of Ebola. However, according to a report from This Day Live yesterday, the Christian Professionals Association of Nigeria is threatening to sue over the ban if it is not lifted in 72 hours. The group says that while the government has banned Christian religious gatherings, the government has not stopped political rallies across the nation. It says that the religious ban violates freedom or worship, movement and assembly protected under Sections 38-41 of the 1999 Constitution Act (As Amended).

Nigeria's National Conference Adopts Recommendations On Religion

In Nigeria, The National Conference has been meeting since March 17. The National Conference grew out of a recommendation from a 13-member Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue. The Conference is considering the reports of its 20 committees on different critical national issues. The Daily Times of Nigeria reports on yesterday's consideration of the report from the Committee on Religion. The National Conference adopted the Committee's recommendation that the government should no longer use public funds to sponsor any program, particularly religious pilgrimages.  Instead the top religious bodies in the country should handle all matters relating to pilgrimages through Pilgrims Commissions managed under a law to be passed by the National Assembly.

The Conference has not yet passed on another recommendation of the Committee on Religion-- the proposed creation of a Religious Equity Commission authorized to advocate, and to enforce constitutional religious rights such as freedom of religion and freedom to acquire land for religious purposes.

 While many applauded the work of the Committee on Religion, others criticized it for avoiding the issue of mission schools and the issue of regulating the location of worship centers.

Nigeria Cracking Down on Gays

Today's New York Times carries a long front-page article titled Wielding Whip and a Hard New Law, Nigeria Tries to ‘Sanitize’ Itself of Gays.  Here is an excerpt:

Rights advocates say they have recorded arrests in multiple Nigerian states, but the country’s north has experienced the toughest crackdown. Mr. Jonathan’s national ban has redoubled the zeal against gay people here and elsewhere, according to officials and residents in Bauchi, where Shariah law prevails and green-uniformed Hisbah, or Islamic police officers, search for what is considered immoral under Islam.

“It’s reawakened interest in communities to ‘sanitize,’ more or less, to talk about ‘moral sanitization,’ ” Dorothy Aken’Ova, executive director of Nigeria’s International Center for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights, said of the law. “Where it was quiet before, it’s gotten people thinking, ‘Who is behaving in a manner that may be gay?’ It’s driven people into the closet.”...

 “God has not allowed this thing; we are not animals,” said Umar Inuwa Obi, 32, a student who said he was in the mob that hurled stones and bottles at the court and the prison van transporting the gay suspects two weeks ago.

“In Shariah court you are supposed to kill the man,” Mr. Obi said, adding that he favored this judgment. “But the government has refused. That’s why they started throwing stones and bottles.”

(See prior related posting.)

Nigerian President Quietly Signs Controversial Anti-Gay Law

AP reported yesterday that in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan signed the controversial Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill on Jan. 7 without any public announcement that he had done so. (See prior related posting.) The new law imposes up to 14 years in prison for entering a same-sex marriage or civil union.  It also provides: "A person who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies or organizations, or directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationship in Nigeria commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a term of 10 years." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement (full text) yesterday criticizing the new law, saying that " it is inconsistent with Nigeria’s international legal obligations."

Nigeria and Uganda Parliaments Pass Harsh Anti-Gay Laws; Final Approval By President/ Prime Minister Uncertain

Daily Trust reports that last week Nigeria's National Assembly gave final approval to the conference committee's version of the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill 2011.  It imposes a 14-year prison sentence on same-sex couples who enter a marriage or civil union.  Ten year prison sentences are prescribed for anyone who witnesses or aids or abets a same-sex union.  Section 2 of the bill provides:

Any person, who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations or directly or indirectly make public show of same sex amorous relationship in Nigeria commits an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a term of 10 years in prison.

The bill still needs the signature of President Goodluck Jonathan to become law.  Amnesty International on Friday called on the President to reject the bill. (AFP).

Meanwhile, on Friday, Uganda's Parliament passed an anti-homosexuality law described as draconian.  The Guardian reports on some of its provisions:

British campaigner Peter Tatchell noted that the bill extends the existing penalty of life imprisonment for same-sex intercourse to all other same-sex behaviour, including the mere touching of another person with the intent to have homosexual relations.

Promoting homosexuality and aiding and abetting others to commit homosexual acts will be punishable by five to seven years jail.... "These new crimes are likely to include membership and funding of LGBT organisations, advocacy of LGBT human rights, supportive counselling of LGBT persons and the provision of condoms or safer sex advice to LGBT people.

"A person in authority – gay or heterosexual – who fails to report violators to the police within 24 hours will be sentenced to three years behind bars."

He added: "Astonishingly, the new legislation has an extra-territorial jurisdiction. It will also apply to Ugandan citizens or foreign residents of Uganda who commit these 'crimes' while abroad, in countries where such behaviour is not a criminal offence. Violators overseas will be subjected to extradition, trial and punishment in Uganda.

The Guardian adds:

[The bill] was opposed by Ugandan prime minister Amama Mbabazi, who argued that not enough MPs were present for a quorum, a challenge that might yet discourage Museveni from signing the bill into law. The threat of a withdrawal of western aid could also play into his decision.