LAGOS, Nigeria - A church and a mosque were set ablaze in Gombe state in northeast Nigeria as riots broke out over the state's move to introduce the strict Muslim sharia law code, state officials said Wednesday.
Gombe state spokesman Yahya Abubakar said a demonstration organized by Christian groups protesting two bills being debated in the state assembly on the introduction of sharia in the state turned violent Monday in the town of Kumo.
"There was violence," Abubakar told Reuters by telephone from the state capital, Gombe. "A few shops were vandalized, a church was burned down and a mosque was burned down.
"There are no official reports of deaths," he said. "Some people were arrested and some people were injured and taken to hospital."
The protesters opposed two bills calling for the implementation of sharia and the creation of secular "customary courts" for non-Christians and non-Muslims.
Non-Muslims oppose sharia for its tough sanctions, such as stoning for adultery and amputation of hands for theft.
A man had his hand cut off at the beginning of May after he was convicted of stealing three bicycles in Zamfara state.
"People were misinformed," Abubakar said. "The bill has not yet been sent to the governor to be signed into law. It was a mere rumor and some people cashed in on it and looted and destroyed some shops."
The declaration of sharia law in some northern states led to Christian-Muslim fighting in February and May 2000 in the northern city of Kaduna in which hundreds of people died.
Despite the opposition of Christians, sharia appears popular in the predominantly Islamic north where some half dozen states have adopted it or are about to do so.
09:33 05-23-01
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