கிறிஸ்துவர்களும் பர்தா அணிய வேண்டும்.

நைஜீரியாவில் ஷாரியா அமல் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. கானோ மானிலத்தில் ஷாரியா அமல் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளதால், பெண்கள் அனைவரும், கிறிஸ்துவ பெண்கள் உட்பட எல்லோரும் பர்தா அணிவது கட்டாயமாக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இங்கு பாதிக்கு பாதி கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் இருக்கிறார்கள். இங்கு ஷாரியா அமல் செய்யப்படுவதை எதிர்த்து நடந்த கலவரங்களில் 1000 பேருக்கு மேல் இறந்திருக்கிறார்கள்.

Nigerian state makes Islamic dress at school compulsory
Kano has become the first state in Nigeria to make it compulsory for all pupils, both Christian and Muslim, to wear Islamic dress.

"This is in line with our resolve to bring about a positive change in the attitude of our students and to strengthen their morality," the governor of the northern state, Ibrahim Shekarau, said late Thursday.

"We do not expect any private school in this state to fail in this regard," Shekarau said, without giving details about penalties.

State schools in Kano, Christian and Muslim, have been obliged to follow a Muslim dress code since 2003, when Shekarau was elected on the strength of his promise to implement a stricter version of the sharia legal system.

Under the code, schoolgirls must wear a kaftan and trousers or long skirts with a veil. Boys should wear a kaftan and trousers with a cap.

Most of the more than 2,000 private schools in the state are Islamic or have a mixture of both Muslim and Christian students. A small minority are run by Christians.

Owing to the low standard of education in state-run schools, many parents send their children to private schools.

Mustapha Ibrahim, a Muslim who runs a private school with both Muslim and Christian pupils, said he was still awaiting official notification of the new regulation from the education ministry.

"All schools in the state are on holidays and I think they will tell us as soon as schools re-open", he said.

"If the government asks us to observe a dress code among our students we will have no option but to do just that otherwise we stand the risk of being penalised, and this may involve closure of our school," he added.

Between 90 and 95 percent of people in Kano, the most populous state in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria, are estimated to be Islamic.

In the other 11 northern states where Islamic sharia law is practised, with varying degrees of strictness, Christian school pupils are not obliged to respect Islamic dress codes.

Nigerian Christians subject to Islamic law

Lagos, May. 9, 2007 (CWNews.com) - All schoolgirls in the Nigerian state of Kano are now required to wear an Islamic veil. The new state policy, which went into effect May 5, applies even to Christian girls studying in private schools.

Kano is one of 12 states in the more populous northern part of Nigeria which on June 23, 2000, introduced Islamic shari'a law. Since then, conflicts between Christians and Muslims have led to the death of a 1,000 people in the region.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is himself a Christian, did not oppose the introduction of shari'a law. Many Christians fear that the election of a Muslim as the country’s next president could lead to the Islamization of the southern states. Muslims in the south are already demanding the Islamic veil for women.