US Congress urged to pressure Nigerian government to declare sharia law unconstitutional

United States lawmakers were on Tuesday urged to press the Nigerian government to abolish Sharia law in the 12 northern states where it is currently in operation and dismantle the religious-enforcement Hisbah commissions, amid warnings that both systems are deepening anti-Christian persecution.

Speaking at a joint congressional briefing convened by the House Appropriations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Dr. Ebenezer Obadare, Senior Fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said extremist groups are exploiting local religious structures to entrench violence and impunity.

He told lawmakers that Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and radicalised Fulani militias “weaponise Sharia-based institutions and Hisbah operatives to advance extremist ideology, enforce forced conversions, and operate unchecked in many communities.”

A statement issued by the Appropriations Committee quoted Obadare as outlining a two-pronged approach: “The policy goal should be two-fold: first, work with the Nigerian military to neutralise Boko Haram. Second, the United States should put pressure on President Tinubu to make Sharia law unconstitutional in the twelve northern states where they have been adopted since 2000 and to disband the various Hisbah groups across northern states seeking to impose Islamic law on all citizens regardless of their religious identity.”

Obadare noted that the Nigerian government has shown responsiveness to international pressure, citing air strikes on Boko Haram positions, the recruitment of 30,000 additional police personnel, and President Bola Tinubu’s recent declaration of a national security emergency. 

“As recent events have shown, the Nigerian authorities are not impervious to incentives,” he said, adding that “Washington must keep up the pressure.”

The bipartisan session, chaired by Appropriations Vice Chair Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), featured testimony alleging state complicity in what some lawmakers described as “religious cleansing” in northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt. 

Witnesses pointed to recent attacks, including the November abduction of pupils and teachers from St Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State, as well as a pattern of blasphemy prosecutions and mass killings.

Emphasising the root of the crisis, Obadare warned that “the deadliest and most serious threat confronting the Nigerian state today is jihadist terror,” insisting that any credible solution must prioritise the dismantling of Boko Haram’s military capability. 

“Every proposal to solve the Nigerian crisis that does not take seriously the need to radically degrade and ultimately eliminate Boko Haram as a fighting force is a non-starter,” he said.