The government of the northern Nigerian State of Zamfara, which recently introduced Sharia, or Islamic law, is offering money to women who give up prostitution.

The wife of the governor, Karima Sani, told a Nigerian newspaper that each woman who gave up prostitution would receive about two hundred and fifty dollars, twenty-five-thousand Naira, equivalent to several months salary for a typical Nigerian civil servant.

She said twenty-seven women had already taken advantage of the offer.

Christians in Nigeria have criticised the introduction of Sharia law -- they say it will lead to the erosion of women's rights.

But the state authorities in Zamfara say it will help produce a more moral society.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service