United States lawmakers were on Tuesday urged to apply greater pressure on the Nigerian government to abolish Sharia law in northern states where it is currently in force and to disband the Hisbah religious enforcement bodies to end Christian genocide.
Experts cautioned that these institutions continue to entrench widespread persecution of Christians and other minority groups.
At a joint House briefing convened in response to President Donald Trump’s earlier directive and Nigeria’s classification as a Country of Particular Concern, Dr Ebenezer Obadare of the Council on Foreign Relations said extremist groups, including Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and radicalised Fulani militias, exploit Sharia structures and Hisbah operatives to propagate extremist ideology, compel religious conversions, and carry out assaults with minimal resistance.
Laying out a roadmap for tackling the violence, Obadare told members of Congress that the United States must adopt a dual-track strategy.
According to a statement from the House Appropriations Committee, he recommended that Washington work directly with the Nigerian military to degrade Boko Haram while simultaneously urging President Bola Tinubu to declare Sharia law unconstitutional in the twelve northern states that adopted it in 2000, and to dismantle all Hisbah formations operating in the region.
He noted that recent actions by the Nigerian authorities indicate that international pressure can yield results.
Following the CPC designation and President Trump’s warning of potential unilateral measures against Boko Haram, he said President Tinubu has ordered airstrikes on insurgent hideouts, authorised the recruitment of 30,000 additional police personnel, and declared a national security emergency.
Obadare, however, maintained that these efforts remain inadequate and that sustained pressure from Washington is vital.
The bipartisan briefing, chaired by Appropriations Vice Chair Mario Díaz Balart and attended by members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, included repeated accusations that the Nigerian government has failed to confront what lawmakers termed religious cleansing across the north and Middle Belt.
Witnesses cited the 22 November abduction of pupils and staff of St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, ongoing blasphemy-related prosecutions, and recurrent mass killings.
They rejected claims that the conflict is driven solely by disputes over land or resources.
Obadare argued that the core issue is unrestrained jihadist violence. He warned that Boko Haram’s efforts to dismantle the Nigerian state and impose an Islamic order continue to threaten national cohesion, stressing that any lasting solution must prioritise the total defeat of the insurgency.