Safiya Hussaini

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Safiya Hussaini Tungar Tudu (born 1967) was a Nigerian woman from Sokoto who faced a death sentence under Sharia law for adultery in 2001. She had a child after her divorce, and she said the pregnancy came after repeated rape by a man. The man was not found guilty due to lack of evidence. She was tried without legal representation, and the four witnesses required by Islamic law were not present.

In October 2001, a Sokoto Sharia court sentenced her to death by stoning. The verdict drew widespread criticism from human rights groups and religious leaders. Advocates argued the case was unfair and biased against a poor, divorced woman. The Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Olubunmi Okogie, even offered to die in her place.

Hussaini appealed her case. Her lawyers, including Nigerian human rights lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim, argued that the alleged adultery happened before Sokoto adopted full Sharia law in June 2000, and that pregnancy alone is not proof of adultery. In March 2002, the Sokoto Appeal Court overturned the death sentence, saying the original verdict was baseless and could not stand.

She later said she forgave her tormentors. Her story was documented in a 2004 book, Safiya Hussaini Tungar Tudu: I, Safiya. Hussaini died in 2024 after a long illness that left her blind.