not recognized by the government, and Maiduguri and her partners were forced to go into hiding shortly after the ceremony to avoid the possible threat of being stoned if convicted for lesbianism, which results in capital punishment for married Muslim women or caning for single Muslim women in Nigerian areas under Sharia Law. Legality of polygamy by state Bauchi State Bauchi State has been the most recent Nigerian state to legislate civil recognition of polygamous marriages for its citizens, which was established after the implanting of Islamic Sharia law on July 1, 2001. Kwara State Since the introduction of Sharia law throughout northern Nigeria, various attempts have been made to implant Sharia law into the southern Kwara State, which would legalize polygamy. Polygamous unions are currently recognized under customary law throughout Nigeria, but lack numerous benefits in a Nigerian civil marriage. While civil marriage in Nigeria is monogamous, a dozen states and counting have implanted Sharia into their legal systems and thus are exempt. While the implanting of Sharia was unsuccessful, numerous Sharia courts were set up in Kwara State to serve for Muslim legal cases. Sharia has yet to be introduced to the entire state as the governing legal system. Lagos State Polygamous marriages are not permitted in Lagos State, which has Nigeria's most populous city, Lagos. Attempts to introduce Sharia law in Lagos State, thereby legalizing polygamy, have been made since early 2002, after a dozen of Nigeria's northern states established Sharia as the governing form of law for Muslims, but not non-Muslims, in these states. The city of Lagos currently has a Sharia court that pertains to civil and legal matters concerning Muslims in the city, though the state does not recognise its rulings as binding, much like the Sharia court in the United Kingdom. Nasarawa State Currently, Nasarawa State does not provide for polygamous marriages, though the status could possibly change. Since the legislation of Sharia law in a dozen of Nigeria's northern states, the debate of legislating Sharia in Nasarawa State soon entered the political arena, sparking both outrage and excitement from the residents of Nasarawa State. The introduction of such a measure failed, but was revived in mid July 2005. Supporters have vowed to continue their attempts to implant Sharia into the state. The state remains one of the few states in Nigeria's north that is not governed by Sharia Law, possibly due to