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| On trial: Wasila Tasi'u, 14, could face the death penalty for the alleged murder of her husband, 35 |
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| Outrage: Human rights activists are angry at the treatment of the 14-year old, who is pictured with one of her lawyers outside the court. If she is executed, it will be Nigeria's first reported execution of a child since 1997 |
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| Gezawa High Court (pictured) overflowed yesterday as prosecutors closed their case in the murder trial, with people peering in through the open windows and a crowd so large it spilled out of the gallery door |
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| Sani Garba, 55, holds a picture of Wasila, who is his daughter-in-law, at her abandoned matrimonial home in the village of Unguwar Yansoro. Polygamy and child marriage are widespread in northern Nigeria |
Nigerian child bride has 'admitted'
murdering her 35-year-old husband with rat
poison by signing a confession she could not
read - with her thumbprint.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for
14-year-old Wasila Tasi'u, whose farmer
husband Umar Sani was found dead just days
after marrying her in April.
If she is found guilty, the teenager - who is
from a poor and deeply conservative Muslim
family and cannot write - could become the
first Nigerian child to be executed in 17
years.
Human rights campaigners have expressed
outrage over her treatment, saying she
should be seen as a victim of abuse.
But the case has prompted mixed reactions in
her impoverished home state of Kano, where
Sharia (Islamic) law is in place alongside the
laws of the government.
That, claim some followers, allows child
marriage - and 14 is a normal age for a
bride.
Gezawa High Court overflowed yesterday as
prosecutors closed their case in the murder
trial, with people peering in through the open
windows and a crowd so large it spilled out
of the gallery door.
Homicide investigator Abdullahi Adamu
revealed he translated Wasila's statement
from her native language, Hausa, into
English, which she did not speak.
Despite being unable to read the document
she then signed it, he told the court.
She could not write her name so 'she had to
use a thumbprint,' he added.
One of the prosecution witnesses was the
farmer's second wife Ramatu, who told how
her 'co-wife' prepared him dinner before being
due to go to bed with him.
The court heard the murder victim had
married Ramatu previously in the village of
Unguwar Yansoro, which sits in a region
where polygamy is widespread.
Ramatu said she got along well with the 14-
year-old and the two had prepared food
together on April 5, the day Sani died.
Because it was Wasila's turn to share a bed
with her new husband, she was also entitled
to serve him his meal.
'After putting the food in the dish I didn't see
anybody put anything in it,' Ramatu said -
but later she saw her husband foaming at the
mouth and unable to walk.
Previously a seven-year-old girl who Wasila
allegedly sent to buy rat poison was called to
give evidence.
Identified only as Hamziyya, the young girl -
believed to be Ramatu's sister - was living in
the same house as the 14-year-old and her
new husband at the time of his death.
'She said rats were disturbing her in her
room,' Hamziyya told the court.
Shopkeeper Abuwa Yusuf confirmed selling
poison to the girl, and neighbour Abdulrahim
Ibrahim said: 'When [Sani] brought the food I
noticed some sandy-like particles, black in
colour'.
The neighbour ate four of the small balls
made of bean paste but 'was not comfortable
with the taste', he said, adding: 'It was only
Umar (Sani) who continued eating.'
Previous court reports suggested three other
people had died after allegedly eating the
contaminated food, but all four deaths had
been combined into one murder charge.
The case has raised the spectre of child
marriage in Nigeria, where campaigners say
almost two fifths of children are married off
before their 18th birthday.
Some 16 per cent are married before they
turn 15, according to the campaign group
Girls Not Brides - and the rates are the
highest in the north, near where Wasila lived.
Hussaina Ibrahim from the International
Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), who is
representing the teenager, told The Guardian :
'We are against the trial. The whole process
violates her fundamental rights.
'The UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child says she should be in education. She
should be in school'.
But others including the 14-year-old's own
relatives have rejected the notion she was
forced into marriage.
They have said that 14 is a common age to
marry in the deeply impoverished region and
that she chose Sani from among many
suitors.
A motion by defence lawyers to have the case
moved to juvenile court was rejected, despite
claims by human rights lawyers that she is
too young to stand trial for murder in a high
court.
The use of Sharia law has also made the case
more complicated, because there are no
guidelines saying where Islamic law ends and
state law begins.
According to Human Rights Watch, Nigeria is
not known to have executed a juvenile
offender since 1997, when the country was
ruled by military dictator Sani Abacha.
The trial, in which a not guilty plea was
entered for the 14-year-old, has been
adjourned until February 16.
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