http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10738830/
Nigerian taxis fined for carrying women
Islamic Sharia law creates controversy with Christian community
Reuters
Updated: 1:30 p.m. ET Jan. 6, 2006
KANO, Nigeria - A court in the northern Nigerian city of Kano has
fined 45 motorcycle taxi riders for transporting women, in violation
of a new rule to comply with Islamic Sharia law, a court official said
on Friday.
The ban on women passengers, brought in last year to make Kano state
traffic laws compatible with Sharia, has caused controversy in the
city, which is predominantly Muslim but has a sizable Christian
community.
Hisbah committees, or volunteers who help uphold Sharia, have clashed
with motorcycle taxi riders caught with women passengers. Women are
supposed to ride in special motorized tricycles, but there are not
enough of these on the streets.
Big fines
A court official said the 45 riders had been fined between 1,000 naira
($8) and 5,000 naira. These are big amounts for the men, who usually
earn between 20 and 60 naira per ride.
If they cannot pay, their motorcycle taxis, known locally as
"achabas," will be auctioned off by the court, the official said.
Kano was one of 12 mainly Muslim northern Nigerian states that
reintroduced in 2000 parts of Sharia that had been abolished under
British colonial rule.
The measure alienated many Christians and triggered sporadic religious
rioting that killed thousands of people. Kano was one of the
flashpoints.
The city launched a segregated Sharia-compliant public transport
system last July, under which achabas are not supposed to carry women
because contact between the rider and the passenger cannot be avoided.
Opinions divided
Opinions of the ban are divided among achaba riders.
“If I carry a woman my concern is the money she pays me, not her
body,” said Ibrahim Dan-Sokoto, who has been in the business for four
years.
But Sharif Magashi said as a Muslim he felt it was God’s will that he
should not carry women passengers. “Sharia is Allah’s divine
injunction and we must uphold it,” he said.
Hisbah volunteers have been enforcing the ban, though their vigilance
decreases after dark, when more women take to achabas.
Copyright 2006 Reuters
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
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