US CONGRESS URGED TO DEMAND NIGERIA ABOLISH SHARIA LAW, DISSOLVE HISBAH COMMISSIONS

United States lawmakers on Tuesday were urged to mount direct pressure on the Nigerian government to declare Sharia law unconstitutional in the 12 northern states where it has been in force since 2000.

They were also urged to dismantle the Hisbah religious-police commissions accused of enabling extremist abuses.

The call came as American legislators examined escalating violence and what several witnesses described as state-enabled religious persecution targeting Christian communities across northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt.

Appearing before a joint House session convened in response to President Donald Trump’s October directive on Nigeria’s Country of Particular Concern (CPC) designation, the Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow, Dr. Ebenezer Obadare, warned that Sharia-based governance and Hisbah enforcement structures have become tools exploited by jihadist factions and radical actors.

According to him, the frameworks provide ideological and operational cover’ for Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and radicalised Fulani militias who enforce forced conversions, impose extremist rule, and operate with near-total impunity.

A statement issued by the House Appropriations Committee quoted Obadare as laying out a blunt two-step strategy for Washington: “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 (1) make Sharia law unconstitutional in the twelve northern states where they has been adopted since 2000 and (2) disband the various Hisbah groups across northern states seeking to enforce and impose Islamic law on all citizens regardless of their religious identity.”

Obadare acknowledged that Nigeria has responded to recent U.S. pressure but insisted that far more assertive diplomacy is required.

“As recent events have shown, the Nigerian authorities are not impervious to incentives,” he said.

“Since the country’s Country of Particular Concern (CPC) designation and President Trump’s threat of unilateral military action against Boko Haram, President Tinubu has made several moves, including ordering air strikes against Boko Haram targets, the recruitment of an additional 30,000 policemen, and, most recently, declaring a national security emergency in the country.”

Still, he maintained: “Washington must keep up the pressure.”

The session, led by Appropriations Vice Chair Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) and including House Foreign Affairs Committee members, was dominated by stark warnings that the Nigerian state is failing to prosecute — and in some cases enabling — what lawmakers termed “religious cleansing.”

Witnesses referenced the November 22 abduction of schoolchildren and teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, Niger State, ongoing blasphemy imprisonments, and systematic mass killings that have displaced entire Christian communities.

Obadare stated: “The deadliest and most serious threat confronting the Nigerian state today is jihadist terror, perpetrated by the Islamist group Boko Haram.

“Boko Haram translates to ‘Western education is forbidden.’ Boko Haram’s barbarous and implacable campaign to overthrow the Nigerian state and establish an Islamic caliphate in its stead is the source of Nigeria’s present discontents.

“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.”

However, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) described Nigeria as “ground zero for global anti-Christian persecution,” while Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) demanded immediate disarmament of militias and the prosecution of attackers.

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Chair Vicky Hartzler and Alliance Defending Freedom International’s Sean Nelson detailed atrocities and urged the U.S. government to leverage security assistance, early-warning tools, and targeted sanctions to “force accountability” on Nigerian authorities.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers signalled readiness to support Díaz-Balart’s FY26 appropriations language aimed at addressing the crisis.

They confirmed that a formal congressional report is being prepared for President Trump, potentially recommending conditionality on U.S. assistance to Nigeria.

Nigeria was first designated a Country of Particular Concern in 2020 under President Trump but was delisted by President Joe Biden.

Trump, however, reinstated the designation on October 31, warning of possible military action and suspension of aid if Abuja failed to confront anti-Christian attacks and extremist violence.

This month’s hearing follows a separate November 20 House Subcommittee session on the CPC redesignation, which featured senior State Department officials and Nigerian religious leaders.

Tuesday’s briefing reinforced a rapidly growing consensus in Washington: that dismantling Sharia criminal law in northern Nigeria — alongside eliminating Hisbah religious police — is now viewed by U.S. lawmakers as an essential prerequisite to halting what they describe as one of the world’s deadliest and most neglected religious-freedom crises.