Nigeria at the Crossroads (2)

Source: FSSPX News

Nigerian States that introduced Sharia law between 1999 and 2001

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) provides valuable assistance to Catholics in dire situations around the world. It has published a report on Nigeria, where Catholics have been suffering for decades and are paying blood tax in staggering proportions. After the political situation, the report deals with the religious situation.

Christians represent about 46.2% of the population. There are 12.4% Catholics (other sources give 14%) and other Christian beliefs represent 33.8%. Islam is the religion of 45.8% of Nigerians, most of whom are Sunnis. The rest of the population (7%) has traditional religious beliefs. Christianity is the majority in the south and Islam in the north.

Nigeria guarantees religious freedom through Section 15 of the Constitution. Section 10 states that neither Nigeria as a Federal Republic nor any of its individual states shall adopt a state religion. Section 38 (II) states that no person shall be compelled to participate in religious instruction against his will if such instruction is not in accordance with his faith.

Sharia Law

Sharia law is Islamic law based on the Koran and the traditions of Muhammad (Hadith and Sunnah), which prescribes religious and secular duties and sometimes penalties for violation of the law. This system governs all aspects of Muslim life, personal and public behavior, religious observance, but also family and business matters.

Islamic law emerged in Nigeria around the beginning of the 19th century and remained applicable until the arrival of British colonial rule in northern Nigeria in 1903, which abolished Sharia law. In October 1999, Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State, re-adopted Sharia-based legal codes, in parallel with secular courts.

By the end of 2001, 11 other states had joined Zamfara and reintroduced “full” Sharia. Many of these laws carry harsh penalties for blasphemy, including the death penalty. In Kaduna and Niger, which are among the 12 states, Sharia does not apply statewide.

African countries that apply Islamic law rarely use it as the basis for their penal codes. But Nigerian courts that apply Sharia do, although harsh penalties such as amputation and stoning are rarely imposed – and when they have been, they have not been carried out.

As of January 2022, only one person (Katsina State) has been executed since 12 Muslim-majority states adopted Sharia law. In 2020, an Islamic court in Kano State, Nigeria, sentenced a musician to death for blasphemous statements against Muhammad, but a retrial was ordered in 2024.

Last year, the gruesome murder of Deborah Yakubo, a Christian student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, northern Nigeria, accused of blasphemy by classmates, brought the debate back to the forefront. The lynching and summary execution heightened fears among northern Christians that some Muslims were becoming radicalized.

Sharia law has deepened divisions in the country, according to ACN’s latest report on religious freedom. When 12 states introduced Islamic law, the riots that followed claimed the lives of thousands of people, both Christian and Muslim.

Catholic Church in Nigeria

It is said that the majority of Christians live in the south, but cities like Jalingo, Jos, and Benue in northern and central Nigeria are predominantly Christian, and others, like Kaduna, Abuja and Nassarawa, are half Christian. In contrast, Kwara, which is in the south, is only about 40% Christian.

The Yoruba region in the west is traditionally Protestant and Anglican, while Igboland in the east has traditionally been the most active region of the Catholic Church. Of the total Christians, 64% are Protestant and 25% are Catholic. There are many small African churches that have broken away from Protestant denominations.

Discrimination Against Christians in Northern Nigeria

The current situation has created high tensions and polarized the nation politically. The decisions, statements, and appointments of political leaders have many Nigerians questioning the unity of the country. The Constitution recognizes the federal character, which means that all sectors of the country should be represented in the federal administration. However, this is not the case.

It is clear that political and military power is concentrated in Muslim hands, especially in the same ethnic family: the Hausa-Fulani. All the civil servants who advise the president are Hausa-Fulani: almost 95% of political and military power is concentrated in the hands of Muslims, in a country that is about 50% Christian.

Christians in the north of the country speak of systemic discrimination based on religion. “To be able to practice your religion freely, you have to be able to preach anywhere. This is not possible in the north. I cannot build a church, but the government employs and pays imams to teach in schools. Every year, the budget provides money to build mosques, but does not allow for the construction of churches,” explains the Archbishop of Kaduna.

Here is how Christians explain the fact that they feel like second-class citizens, according to an ACN report:

Second-class citizens:

– Denial of access to political parties, political exclusion

– No fairness in recruitment into armed forces (police, army, etc.)

– Lack of social protection and access to social assistance

– Fewer job opportunities, lack of promotion in public positions. While teaching of the Christian religion is not allowed in public schools, Islamic teachers are employed in all public schools in northern Nigeria

– Abductions and forced marriages

– Christian men are not allowed to marry Muslim women. Students with Christian names have been denied access to professional courses. Many choose to change their names when in school.

– Christian groups and institutions are not allowed to build chapels or places of worship in higher education institutions.

– Christian churches are not allowed to buy land.

Sharia law applies to Christians:

– The hijab must be worn by all girls in schools

– Traditional Muslim moral norms – Hisbah – are often imposed by force, including on non-Muslims. This may include preventing mixed-gender transportation, imposing dress codes, especially on women in educational institutions, preventing the broadcasting of music and films, and seizing and destroying alcoholic beverages.

– The sale of alcohol is prohibited in some states in Nigeria.