Nigerian court condemns Islamic militant to death

YOLA, Nigeria — A militant Islamic leader who spearheaded religious conflict that engulfed northern Nigeria in 1984 has been sentenced to death by a high court in the northern state of Adamawa. On Oct. 10, the Yola High Court sentenced Musa Suleiman — also known as Musa Makaniki — leader of an unorthodox Islamic sect known as Maitatsine, to death by hanging. Justice Bamare Bansi, also the chief judge of Adamawa state, said in his judgment that there was overwhelming evidence that proved the Muslim militant leader masterminded a large-scale religious riot in which an estimated 3,000 Christians and Muslims died. Suleiman just smiled when the death sentence was pronounced.