Members of the U.S. Congress are being urged to push the Nigerian government to eliminate Sharia law in northern states and dismantle Hisbah religious-enforcement bodies, amid warnings that these structures are worsening anti-Christian persecution.
At a joint congressional briefing held Tuesday, December 2, by the House Appropriations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Dr. Ebenezer Obadare, Senior Fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Boko Haram, ISWAP, and radicalised Fulani militants remain the chief drivers of violence.
He told lawmakers that extremists often exploit Sharia systems and Hisbah authorities to spread hardline ideology, carry out forced conversions, and operate with near-complete impunity.
A statement from the Appropriations Committee quoted Obadare as proposing a two-track approach: support the Nigerian military in neutralising Boko Haram, and pressure President Tinubu to make Sharia law unconstitutional in the twelve northern states that adopted it since 2000, while also disbanding Hisbah groups enforcing Islamic law on all residents regardless of their faith.
Obadare noted that Abuja has recently responded to U.S. pressure, arguing that Washington should maintain its leverage.
The bipartisan session—led by Appropriations Vice Chair Mario DÃaz-Balart (R-FL)—featured repeated claims that the Nigerian government is enabling what lawmakers described as “religious cleansing” across the north and Middle Belt.
Witnesses cited the November 22 abduction of pupils and staff at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, ongoing blasphemy-related detentions, and mass killings, dismissing narratives that frame the violence purely as resource conflict.
Obadare stressed that Nigeria’s crisis cannot be addressed without decisively weakening Boko Haram, whose goal of replacing the Nigerian state with an Islamic caliphate remains, in his words, the country’s most lethal threat.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) called Nigeria “ground zero” for global anti-Christian persecution, while Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) pressed for the disarming of militias and prosecution of perpetrators.
USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler and ADF International’s Sean Nelson presented accounts of recent attacks and urged the U.S. to use security-aid leverage, targeted sanctions, and early-warning mechanisms to drive accountability.
Lawmakers across both parties signalled support for DÃaz-Balart’s FY26 appropriations language addressing the crisis. The Appropriations Committee is preparing a formal report to President Trump, outlining recommendations that could include conditions on U.S. assistance to Nigeria.
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