The US Congress is putting pressure on Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Government to declare Sharia Law unconstitutional in the 12 northern states where it is currently enforced and disband the Hisbah Commissions.
This move is in response to concerns that Sharia Law and the Hisbah groups are fueling anti-Christian persecution and violence in the region.
The resolution was reached during a joint House briefing in response to US President Donald Trump’s October directive and subsequent designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
At the congress, some witnesses of Genocide against Christians led by Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Ebenezer Obadare testified that the primary drivers of violence Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and radicalized Fulani terrorists are taking advantage of the Sharia frameworks and Hisbah officials to impose extremist ideology, enforce forced conversions, and operate with near-total impunity.
In laying out his strategy, Obadare acknowledged efforts by the Federal Government in response to pressure from the United States.
“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, 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.”
He, however, expects a lot more to be done, saying, “Washington must keep up the pressure.”
A statement by the House Appropriations Committee quoted him as saying, “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 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.”
Other witnesses also cited the November 22 abduction of children and teachers from St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, what they described as ongoing blasphemy-law imprisonments, and mass killings, rejecting claims that the violence stems solely from resource disputes.
The bipartisan session, one of the measures by the United States Government to put to an end the alleged ill-treatment and persecution of Christians in Nigeria under Tinubu administration heard repeated accusations that the Nigerian government is complicit in what lawmakers called “religious cleansing” across the north and Middle Belt.
SOURCE: Channels TV
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