US urges Nigeria to scrap Sharia, disband Hisbah

US lawmakers were urged on Tuesday to press the Nigerian government to abolish Sharia law in the 12 northern states where it remains in force and dismantle religious-enforcement Hisbah commissions, amid concerns that both systems are exacerbating anti-Christian persecution.

Dr. Ebenezer Obadare, Senior Fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told a joint congressional briefing convened by the House Appropriations and Foreign Affairs Committees that extremist groups exploit local religious structures to entrench violence.

He said Boko Haram, 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.”

Obadare outlined a two-pronged approach: work with the Nigerian military to neutralise Boko Haram, and pressure President Bola Tinubu to make Sharia law unconstitutional in the northern states and disband Hisbah groups imposing Islamic law on all citizens.

He acknowledged some responsiveness by the Nigerian government, citing airstrikes on Boko Haram, recruitment of 30,000 additional police officers, and Tinubu’s recent national security emergency declaration.

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

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

Witnesses cited incidents such as the November abduction of pupils and teachers from St Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State, blasphemy prosecutions, and mass killings.

Obadare stressed that the primary threat confronting Nigeria is jihadist terror, insisting that dismantling Boko Haram’s military capability must remain central to any credible solution.

“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.