Sharia in Nigeria in the context of "Jigawa State"

Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing the jugular vein and common carotid artery, while all other organs are deprived of the involuntary functions that are needed for the body to function.The term beheading refers to the act of deliberately decapitating a person, either as a means of murder or as an execution; it may be performed with an axe, sword, or knife, or by mechanical means such as a guillotine. An executioner who carries out executions by beheading is sometimes called a headsman. Accidental decapitation can be the result of an explosion, a car or industrial accident, improperly administered execution by hanging or other violent injury. The national laws of Saudi Arabia and Yemen permit beheading. Under Sharia, which exclusively applies to Muslims, beheading is also a legal punishment in Zamfara State, Nigeria. In practice, Saudi Arabia is the only country that continues to behead its offenders regularly as a punishment for capital crimes. Cases of decapitation by suicidal hanging, suicide by train decapitation and by guillotine are known.

Less commonly, decapitation can also refer to the removal of the head from a body that is already dead. This might be done to take the head as a trophy, as a secondary stage of an execution by hanging, for public display, to make the deceased more difficult to identify, for cryonics, or for other, more esoteric reasons.

People in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community in Nigeria face severe challenges. Both male and female expressions of homosexuality are illegal in Nigeria and punishable by death in the northern portion of the country and up to 14 years of imprisonment in the southern portion of the country. There are no legal protections for LGBTQ people in Nigeria—a largely conservative country of more than 230 million people, split between a mainly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south. Very few LGBTQ people are open about their sexuality, as violence against them is frequent. According to PinkNews, Nigerian authorities generally target the LGBTQ community. Many LGBTQ Nigerians seek asylum in countries with progressive laws.

Attempted same-sex marriages have also been criminalised within Nigeria since 2013. The maximum punishment in 12 northern states with Shari'a law is death by stoning. The law applies to all Muslims and those who have voluntarily consented to the jurisdiction of the Shari'a courts. However, in southern Nigeria and under the secular criminal laws of northern Nigeria, the maximum punishment for same-sex sexual activity is 14 years of imprisonment, which is less severe. In 2022, a group of Nigerian human rights organizations and activists filed a lawsuit arguing that Sections 4(1), 5(2), and 5(3) of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act of 2014 violated provisions of the Nigerian Constitution. That same year, the court ruled that these sections were unconstitutional and could not be enforced in any part of the country, effectively allowing LGBTQ+ organizations and individuals to exist and organize freely.