Abuja/Washington, 3 December 2025 – A coalition of American religious freedom advocates, human-rights organisations, and conservative lawmakers has called on the United States Congress to impose targeted sanctions and diplomatic pressure on Nigeria unless the country abolishes Sharia criminal law in its northern states and disbands the Hisbah, the Islamic religious police accused of systematic persecution of religious minorities.
The campaign, spearheaded by the Washington-based International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) and backed by several Republican members of Congress, cites a string of recent incidents in which Christians and moderate Muslims have allegedly faced harassment, arbitrary arrest, and violence at the hands of Hisbah forces operating in states such as Kano, Katsina, and Zamfara.
In a letter sent to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, the coalition described the continued application of Sharia penal codes – which include punishments such as flogging, amputation, and stoning – as “incompatible with basic human rights and Nigeria’s own constitutional guarantees of religious freedom”.
“Twelve northern Nigerian states continue to enforce a parallel legal system that openly discriminates against non-Muslims and Muslim women,” the letter states. “The Hisbah, often acting with impunity, raid homes, destroy property, and detain citizens for ‘un-Islamic’ behaviour ranging from consuming alcohol to playing music or even wearing Western clothing.”
Among the cases highlighted is the September 2025 arrest and public flogging of a Christian woman in Kano for “indecent dressing”, and the destruction of a church-owned clinic in Sokoto State after Hisbah officers deemed its medical outreach “proselytisation”.
The coalition is urging Congress to:
- Attach religious-freedom conditions to future US security and economic assistance to Nigeria
- Impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on senior Hisbah commanders and state governors who refuse to rein in the force
- Formally designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act
“Nigeria is a strategic partner, but partnership cannot mean turning a blind eye to state-sponsored religious apartheid,” said ICON’s executive director, Dr Rachel Omotola Stevens. “If Abuja wishes to retain American goodwill and assistance in combating terrorism, it must choose between medieval theocracy and the rule of law.”
The Nigerian federal government has yet to issue an official response, though sources within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the campaign as “external interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs and an attempt to undermine the country’s federal structure”.
The twelve northern states adopted full Sharia criminal codes between 1999 and 2001, a move upheld by Nigeria’s Supreme Court as falling within the constitutional rights of states to operate customary and religious courts. Successive administrations in Abuja have resisted calls to intervene, arguing that religious and legal matters remain the prerogative of individual states.
Critics within Nigeria, including several civil-liberties groups, have long warned that the Hisbah’s expanding role – from moral policing to enforcing dress codes and banning mannequins in shops – risks further polarising an already fragile country.
As the 119th Congress prepares to reconvene in January, the issue is expected to feature prominently in hearings on US policy toward West Africa, particularly as Nigeria continues to battle Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents who themselves cite Sharia enforcement as part of their ideology.
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