During a joint congressional briefing on Tuesday, Dr. Ebenezer Obadare of the Council on Foreign Relations urged United States lawmakers to pressure the Nigerian government to abolish Sharia law in 12 northern states and dismantle the Hisbah religious enforcement commissions.
Obadare warned that both Sharia and Hisbah are being weaponized by extremist groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP to enforce radical ideology and fuel anti-Christian persecution and violence.
He presented a two-part policy recommendation for the U.S.:
- Assist the Nigerian military in neutralizing Boko Haram.
- Pressure President Tinubu to declare Sharia law unconstitutional in the northern states and disband Hisbah groups that seek to impose Islamic law universally.
Obadare noted that the Nigerian government has previously shown responsiveness to international pressure, suggesting that Washington must “keep up the pressure” to address the nation’s security crisis.
The briefing also featured testimony alleging state complicity in “religious cleansing” and highlighted recent mass killings and abductions, asserting that the most critical threat facing Nigeria is jihadist terror.
