Nigerian Sharia police cancel court-ordered TikTok celebrities' wedding / Photo: AMINU ABUBAKAR - AFP/File
-
Real Madrid down Atletico in derby, leaders Barca edge Rayo
-
Korda sends Alcaraz to another early exit in Miami
-
Bordeaux-Begles hammer Toulouse in Dupont absence
-
Slovenia PM claims election win as results show neck and neck finish
-
England's Fitzpatrick birdies 18th to win PGA Valspar title
-
Man City's League Cup glory adds twist to title race
-
Leftists win mayoral elections in Paris and Marseille
-
Vinicius double helps Real Madrid edge Atletico thriller
-
Doncic cleared to face Pistons after foul rescinded: NBA
-
Inter's Serie A lead cut to six with Fiorentina draw, Como march on
-
World No.1 Alcaraz beaten by Korda in Miami Open third round
-
Cuba starts to restore power after new blackout
-
Ovechkin nets 1,000th combined NHL season-playoffs goal
-
Undav doubles up as Stuttgart down Augsburg to go third
-
Leftists win mayoral elections in Paris and Marseille: projections
-
Israel warns weeks of fighting ahead in Mideast war
-
Guardiola revels in Man City's 'special' League Cup win over Arsenal
-
Hodgkinson headlines Britain's 'Super Sunday' at world indoors
-
Messi scores for Miami in 3-2 MLS victory at NYCFC
-
Bezzecchi wins second race of the season at Brazil MotoGP
-
Britain's Hodgkinson wins world indoor 800m gold
-
Former France and West Ham star Payet announces retirement
-
Man City's O'Reilly savours 'unbelievable' double in League Cup final win
-
Israel to advance ground operations in Lebanon after striking key bridge
-
Man City win League Cup as O'Reilly sinks Arsenal after Kepa blunder
-
Marseille downed by Lille in Ligue 1 as Lyon's struggles continue
-
NBA bans Mitchell, Champagnie one game for sparking melee
-
'Project Hail Mary' rockets to top of N. America box office
-
Syrians protest alcohol sale limits, curbs on personal freedom
-
Spurs can '100 percent' avoid nightmare of relegation: Saltor
-
Araujo header scrapes Liga leaders Barcelona win over Rayo
-
Israel launches strikes as Lebanon warns of invasion
-
Torrential rains in Kenya kill 81 in March: officials
-
Iran threatens Mideast infrastructure after Trump ultimatum
-
Spurs felled by Forest in relegation battle, Sunderland shock Newcastle
-
Spurs collapse against Forest, failing acid test
-
US may 'escalate to de-escalate' against Iran: Treasury chief
-
Howe disappointed in himself after 'painful' Newcastle defeat
-
Quansah to miss England's pre-World Cup friendlies
-
Araujo header scrapes Liga leaders Barca win over Rayo
-
Georgia buries Patriarch Ilia II as succession stirs fears of Russian influence
-
DeChambeau wins back-to-back LIV Golf play-offs
-
Sunderland inflict more derby pain on Newcastle
-
Nepali youth demand release of govt report into deadly September uprising
-
US, Iran trade threats to target infrastructure in Middle East
-
Paris doubles up with super-G victory at World Cup finals
-
Dortmund part ways with sporting director Kehl
-
Russia resumes use of space launch site damaged in accident
-
Cuba scrambles to restore power after new blackout
-
Senegal's Idrissa Gueye ready to 'hand back' AFCON medals
Nigerian Sharia police cancel court-ordered TikTok celebrities' wedding
Sharia-enforcing police in Nigeria's northern city of Kano have cancelled a wedding of two TikTok celebrities that was ordered by a court after a viral kissing video, an official told AFP Sunday.
A court had ordered the Islamic Sharia police to have the two TikTok celebrities marry for posting the video, which it deemed "indecent".
Kano is one of a dozen predominantly Muslim states in Nigeria where Sharia law operates alongside common law.
Videos of Idris Mai Wushirya and Basira Yar Guda had circulated on TikTok showing them cuddling and kissing, drawing outrage among Kano residents.
On Monday, a magistrate court judge instructed the Kano Sharia police, called Hisbah, to within 60 days solemnise the marriage between two for posting videos showing them kissing, an act seemed indecent in Kano's conservative Muslim society.
However, Mai Wushirya told Hisbah officials making preparations for the wedding they he was not interested in marrying Yar Guda despite having told the judge they were "in love", Abba Sufi, Hisbah's director-general told AFP.
"Mai Wushirya told us that he lied to the court that he and Yar Guda were in love to evade prosecution," Sufi said.
"With this development, we have cancelled the wedding and have resolved to refer the matter to the judge who gave the order for appropriate action," Sufi said.
Mai Wushiryar's parents had on Monday gave Hisbah their "explicit consent" for the wedding while the Sharia police was making efforts to contact Yar Guda's family.
The Kano state government had agreed to purchase a house for the prospective couple to meet the bride's condition.
The court order drew mixed reactions among Nigerians.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the country's lawyers union, condemned the court order as "an affront to the fundamental rights of the individuals concerned".
"No court has the power to compel any person to marry another persons or two persons to mandatorily marry," Mazi Afam Osigwe, head of the NBA said in a statement.
Kano is home to a burgeoning film industry dubbed Kannywood, the second largest in the world next to Bollywood in volume, with more than 200 films produced each month in the Hausa language spoken in the region and across West Africa.
The increasing use of social media by Kannywood for skits and songs made the board of censors extend its authority to social media, arresting and jailing several TikTokers for videos considered obscene or indecent.
X.Karnes--AMWN
