According to the BBC News, Hajiya Habiba Garba, a female All Nigerian People’s Party chieftain was beaten into a coma by Labaran Abdu Maderi, a member of the opposing party in the Kano State Hose of Assembly. Maderi, who attacked Garba in front of witnesses and police, was been sentenced yesterday to remain in jail until March, when the court can review his application for bail, reports the Daily Trust.
Madari began harassing Garba by hiring a group of thugs to call Garba a “prostitute” and physically threaten her, reports Leadership Nigeria. Garba went to the police station to put her complaint against Maderi’s harassment in writing. Maderi defended his actions, saying, “I ordered the boys to call her prostitute because she always goes to the radio castigating me and my associates.”
A photograph of Garba’s injuries, released by Nigerian paper the Triumph on Monday, reveal the area just under her armpit and scars on her torso. Kano State authorities claim they have received complaints about the photograph breaking Muslim codes on nudity. Kano is one of 12 Muslim northern states in Nigeria to implement Sharia law, which decrees that women and men should dress modestly.
Garba told BBC News that she wanted to make others aware of the violence against women in Northern Nigeria, “I wanted to show the people of the world what that man did to me.”
