Any Muslim in Niger State who marries more than four wives stands the risk of a three-year imprisonment with a fine.
He shall also be made to choose only four of the women and the marriage to other women dissolved.
These were the highlights of the executive bill seeking for the establishment of Sharia Penal Code passed yesterday by the House of Assembly.
The government sponsored the bill, following its inability to prosecute the octogenarian mega polygamist Islamic cleric, Bello Muhammadu Masaba, who married 98 wives for lack of existing laws.
Section 407 of the law, which took effect from February 26, provides three years imprisonment with fine for anyone convicted of marrying more than four wives.
Besides the jail term, the law says that convicts shall choose only four of the women as allowed by the law while marriage to the other women will be dissolved.
The law also prescribes 21 years for any person convicted of rape.
The passage of the bill followed the adoption of the report of the Committee on Judicial Matters.
Chairman of the committee Isah Kawu said stakeholders were invited for input while a public hearing was also conducted.
The Speaker, Adamu Usman, praised his colleagues, especially the committee, for a thorough work.
Usman said the bill was in conformity with Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, adding that the bill was also in line with the Quran.
He said what the legislature did in the passage of the bill was to “codify the punishment for rape cases”, adding that the law also specified penalties for those who drugged their victims before raping them.
Usman urged parents to always monitor their children, stressing that people should report rape cases to law enforcement agents.
Asked if the controversial marriage by the octogenarian would now be tried under the new law, the Speaker said: “Our criminal laws do not have retroactive effect. It will be unconstitutional to prosecute anybody before now, as the law now takes effect from February 26.”
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