NIGERIA’s northern state of Zamfara is poised to introduce the Islamic Sharia legal system with effect from 27 October, following the signing into law of the bill passed by the state’s assembly by the governor, Ahmed Sani. This will make Zamfara the first of the 36 states of the Nigerian federation to adopt the Islamic legal and administrative systems in constitutionally secular Nigeria. The move has provoked a national controversy with a Lagos-based lawyer, Fred Agbaje, who has described it as unconstitutional. Sharia law prescribes stringent punishments such as beheading and amputation of limbs for offences such as prostitution, adultery and stealing.