The Nigerian state

States of Nigeria

Nigeria is currently divided into 36 states and Abuja, the federal capital territory. The states are further divided into 774 Local Government Areas....

 of Plateau State

Plateau State

Plateau State is the twelfth largest state of Nigeria, and is roughly located in the center of the country. It is geographically unique in Nigeria because its boundaries totally surround the Jos Plateau, having the Jos Plateau totally in its central and northern part...

currently does not recognize polygamous marriages under civil law

Civil law (legal system)

Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...

, though the federal government of Nigeria recognizes such unions under customary law, thereby granting significant benefits to those in polygamous marriages not civilly married. Efforts to introduce Sharia

Sharia

Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

 law in Plateau State have resulted in several brutal clashes between Muslims and Christians, though as of 2009, Sharia law has not been implanted into the state's legal codes.