Abolish Sharia, Shut Down Hisbah — US Panel Rallies Congress to Act on Nigeria

By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu

Abolish Sharia, Shut Down Hisbah — US Panel Rallies Congress to Act on Nigeria

A United States congressional panel on Tuesday called for tougher diplomatic pressure on Nigeria to end the operation of Sharia law in several northern states and to dismantle the Hisbah religious police.

He warned that both systems continue to fuel long-running abuses against Christian and other minority communities.

At a joint House briefing convened after President Donald Trump’s recent directive and Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern, Dr Ebenezer Obadare of the Council on Foreign Relations told lawmakers that extremist groups;

That include, Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and radicalised Fulani fighters, exploit Sharia structures and Hisbah formations to entrench hardline ideology, enforce coerced conversions and carry out attacks with minimal pushback.

He outlined what he described as a “two-track” approach for Washington: step up military coordination with Nigeria to crush Boko Haram, while also pressing President Bola Tinubu to outlaw Sharia law in the twelve northern states that adopted it in 2000 and to dissolve Hisbah bodies operating across the region.

A statement from the House Appropriations Committee noted that Obadare cited recent moves by the Tinubu administration, including fresh air strikes on insurgent camps, the approval of 30,000 new police recruits and the declaration of a national security emergency, as evidence that external pressure can deliver results.

Still, he argued that these measures remain “far from enough,” insisting that sustained US engagement is crucial.

The bipartisan meeting, chaired by Appropriations Vice Chair Mario Díaz-Balart and attended by foreign affairs lawmakers, was dominated by claims that Abuja has not confronted what participants described as “religious cleansing” across northern Nigeria and the Middle Belt.

Witnesses referenced the November 22 abduction of pupils and teachers from St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, ongoing blasphemy prosecutions and recurring mass killings.

They dismissed narratives suggesting the violence is solely a land-use conflict, insisting that jihadist aggression remains the central driver.

According to Obadare, Boko Haram’s long-term goal of dismantling the Nigerian state and imposing an extremist order continues to threaten national cohesion.

He maintained that defeating the insurgency outright must remain the cornerstone of any credible solution.

About The Author

Chioma Ndukwu

See author's posts