Lagos - An Islamic court in the northern Nigerian state of Niger has sentenced two lovers to death by stoning for adultery, state officials said on Thursday.

According to a justice ministry official, 32-year-old Ahmadu Ibrahim and his lover Fatima Usman were found guilty on Monday of having sex outside marriage by the Upper Sharia court sitting in Niger state's New Gawu district.

The official said the offence is contrary to Islamic law, or sharia, which was reintroduced in the state in 2000.

He said the two lovers had confessed to the crime and have 30 days to appeal against the sentence.

The latest sentence of death by stoning is the third to be pronounced this month under the Sharia, which is in operation in 12 northern Nigerian states. - Sapa-AFP