Following a viral post announcing the inauguration of a Sharia court in Oyo town, Oyo State, LAOLU AFOLABI explores the growing anxiety in the state, reflecting on past experiences with Sharia law in northern Nigeria.
Oyo State, located in southwestern Nigeria, is renowned for its rich cultural heritage and diverse religious makeup featuring Islam, Christianity and traditional African beliefs.
Politically, it is a dynamic state with a history of progressive politics, making it a significant player in Nigeria’s socio-political landscape.
However, recently, a wave of anxiety has gripped Oyo State following a viral post on X (formerly Twitter) that reignited discussions about introducing Sharia law in the southwest, specifically in Oyo town. The controversial post, shared on December 20, 2024, by AbdulQowiyy Olalekan Imam-Oníde (@A_QowiyyBadmus), stated, “Since the Southwest states have left Muslims without any trial court of competent jurisdiction on their matters, despite S. 275 (1) of the 1999 CFRN allowing every state to have one, Muslims have resorted to ISPs. Oyo Alaafin is launching its own in January.”
The post included an invitation from the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria, Oyo chapter, for the inauguration of a Sharia Court in Oyo town on January 11, 2025. The event, to be held at the Muslim Community Islamic Centre, Mobolaje Area, Oyo, featured prominent figures, including the Basorun of Oyo land, High Chief Yusuf Olayinka and Alhaji Tajudeen Kamorise, the Aare Musulumi of Oyo land.
Also on the invitation is the spiritual father of the day, Alhaji Abdul Lateef Eleyele, who is the Mufasiru of Oyo land and the Amir li-Mumeen of Oyo land, Alhaji Yaqub Mainazara, among others.
This announcement sparked a heated debate on social media and across the state, amplifying concerns about its implications for unity and social harmony. A user warned, “If Sharia law gets implemented in your state, you can be randomly arrested and imprisoned for ‘indecent dressing,’ even if you are not a Muslim…”
Prominent religious leaders in the town denied knowledge of the event. A former chairman of the Muslim Wing of the Oyo State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Taofeek Akewugbagold, when contacted by The PUNCH, said he was not aware of the development.
Former Oyo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mutalubi Ojo, also denied knowledge of such development, while a legal luminary, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), asked if that was possible without passing through the state House of Assembly.
However, another legal luminary from Oyo State, Ahmed Raji (SAN), when contacted by The PUNCH, clarified that the statement about the group wanting to inaugurate a Sharia court was incorrect. He explained that the council intended to establish a sharia panel for Muslims who voluntarily choose to use it for arbitration.
“The panel is strictly for resolving matters between willing Muslims and does not involve punitive measures like amputations, contrary to some reports.
“No court can be established without the government’s approval, so this is not a Sharia court but an arbitration panel, and its decisions would not be binding on those who do not consent to it,” he stated.
Following the heated debate, the group, in a statement signed by the Khadimul Muslimeen of Oyo Kingdom, Imam Daud Igi Ogun, on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, announced the indefinite postponement of the inauguration.
In a statement tagged “Notice of Postponement,” the group said, “On behalf of the Oyo Muslim indigenes, this is to inform the general public that the inauguration ceremony of the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (Oyo branch) previously scheduled for January 11th, 2025 at the Muslim Community Islamic Center, Oba Adeyemi High School Road, Mobolaje Area, Agbongangan, Oyo, has been suspended until further notice. Islam portrays peace.”
Recently, tensions flared as a signpost in front of a mosque in Lekki, Lagos State, stirred controversy. Following protests from Christian organisations, the banner was taken down. However, on Sunday, the mosque’s Imam declared, “We are not cowards; we will modify the banner and reinstall it because this is our territory.”
However, The introduction of a Sharia court or panel at this time in the state may cause a crisis, some opinion leaders say.
Tensions over the role of Sharia law in Nigeria are not new. Controversies surrounding its implementation in northern states since 1999 have often resulted in social unrest.
For instance, in October 2001, the country found itself at the centre of global outrage following the conviction of a 35-year-old woman, Safiya Husaini, by a lower Sharia Court in Sokoto State for bearing a child out of wedlock.
Just months later, in April 2002, another northern Sharia court in Katsina State sentenced 30-year-old Amina Lawal to death for adultery. The Sharia issue was under the spotlight again in May 2002 when an Islamic court in Jigawa State sentenced Sarimu Mohammed, 50, to death by stoning for raping a nine-year-old girl – the first death sentence imposed on a man for rape or adultery under the re-introduced Sharia law at the time.
Mohammed, caught by neighbours, got 100 strokes of the cane and a fine. In Bauchi State, Adama Yunusa, who was 19 and pregnant, was sentenced to 100 lashes for having sex with her fiancé.
The reintroduction of Sharia law began in October 1999 when Ahmed Sani Yerima, the then-Governor of Zamfara State, adopted it as the primary legal code for Muslims. Eleven northern states followed suit, sparking debates and tensions nationwide.
Kaduna State, under former Governor Ahmed Makarfi, also joined the bandwagon, but the state degenerated into chaos, with many lives and property lost. On February 21, 2000, at about 6am, thousands of Christians from various parts of Kaduna – including Sabo Tasha, Kakuri, Television Village, Angwan Sunday and Barnawa – converged to protest the proposed adoption of Sharia in the state. The protest was organised by the state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria.
The protest quickly escalated. Muslim youths clashed with the Christian protesters, and the violence spiralled out of control, resulting in devastating inter-communal fighting between Christians and Muslims. And what began as a debate over the introduction of Sharia law in Kaduna turned into one of the most serious episodes of violence in Nigeria’s history.
The 2000 violence in Kaduna occurred in two major waves, sometimes referred to as “Sharia 1” and “Sharia 2.” The first wave lasted from February 21 to 25, with additional killings in March, while the second wave erupted from May 22 to 23. By the end of the violence, at least 2,000 people – and possibly many more – had lost their lives, making the riots one of the worst outbreaks of violence in Nigeria since the 1967 to 1970 civil war.
Kaduna, one of the largest states in northern Nigeria, has a northern region of predominantly Muslims, and a significant Christian population, primarily from the 30 ethnic groups based in the southern part of the state, often referred to as the South Kaduna minority tribes. The religious and ethnic diversity of the state heightened the intensity of the conflict.
By November 2002, protests relating to the Miss World beauty contest due to be held in Nigeria spiralled out of control and around 250 people were killed again in Kaduna as Muslim and Christian groups fought each other for three days.
Other states, such as Bauchi, Jos (Plateau State) and Kano, also experienced riots and protests as religious communities expressed opposing views on Sharia implementation. As the crisis escalated in the North over Sharia, states in the South did not raise the agenda. However, some Muslim clerics in Oyo, in May 2002, said they would apply Sharia for the first time to civil matters involving Muslims, such as divorce and land disputes. The plan did not, however, materialise.
The crisis forced the Federal Government, led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, to declare the application of strict Sharia law unconstitutional. In a letter to state governors practising the law, the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi, asked states using the legal system to modify it according to the provisions of the country’s constitution.
The letter said some judgments passed under Sharia were discriminatory against Muslims.
“A Muslim should not be subjected to a punishment more severe than would be imposed on other Nigerians for the same offence,” the letter read.
Some former northern governors like Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto State insisted that they would not adhere to the then justice minister’s declaration.
Amid international pressure on him, Obasanjo, however, said he did not see the adoption of Sharia law by a dozen states in the country as a threat.
“To say Sharia must be removed from Islam is like saying that the 10 commandments must be removed from Christianity,” Obasanjo told The Independent. “Sharia is not a new thing and it’s not a thing to be afraid of. What we need is justice.”
The Nigerian legal system integrates various forms of law. English law, introduced during colonisation, serves as a foundation, while common law evolved post-independence in 1960. Customary law, based on indigenous traditions, governs personal and family matters within ethnic groups. Sharia law, or Islamic law, is applied in specific contexts. The supreme law is constitutional, derived from the 1999 Constitution, while legislation from the National Assembly and state legislatures provides secondary legal sources.
Judicial precedents, particularly from the Supreme Court, shape the legal framework.
Sharia law dates back to the pre-colonial era, governing the Muslim-dominated northern region, particularly among the Hausa-Fulani. Its modern reintroduction began in 1999 with Nigeria’s return to democracy. Applied in states adopting it, Sharia covers criminal offences, civil disputes, and family law, but its punishments, like amputation or stoning, remain controversial. While it aligns with Islamic principles for Muslims, it has heightened religious tensions, raising concerns about national unity and constitutional secularism.
Speaking on the development, a group, The Yoruba Nation Youths, both within Nigeria and in the diaspora, kicked against the plan to introduce Sharia law or establish Sharia courts in the South-West. In a statement by the Yoruba National Youth Leader (Diaspora), Prophet Ayodele Ologunloluwa and the Home-based Leader, Oyegunle Omotoyole, the group affirmed readiness to defend Yoruba ancestral land against any form of destabilisation, including imposition of Sharia law in the region.
“We will resist any move to impose Sharia law or courts in Yorubaland. Yoruba culture and traditions are distinct, and any attempt to introduce alien laws will be met with fierce opposition,” the group said.
The Oyo State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Apostle Joshua Akinyemiju, speaking to The PUNCH, said the planned establishment of a Sharia court in Oyo State was surprising, saying such an idea could not have been conceived.
“Naturally, it should not happen, because in the South-West, particularly in Oyo State, we have Muslims and Christians in every family. Has the state House of Assembly passed any law concerning that? Is the government of Oyo State carried along in such a plan? The governor is not aware of it, the state assembly is not aware. How will a court operate without legislative and executive arms? The proponents are jokers; they are just trying to ruffle feathers. We saw the governor at the prayer session yesterday (Monday) and when we showed him the invite, he denied knowledge of such development. We won’t allow that. There is no law to back such up and for us, we will not allow anything that would jeopardise the peaceful coexistence we are enjoying in the state.”
When told the plan was to establish an arbitration panel and not a court, Akinyemiju said whatever name it was called, arbitration was part of justice administration in the state and must have the support and backing of the Chief Judge of Oyo State.
“For us, we are not in support and the governor too was not in support of it,” he said.
Corroborating Akinyemiju, a former CAN chairman in Oyo State, Pastor Benjamin Akanmu, said “The proposed Sharia court or panel cannot work in Oyo State, Oyo town or any part of the state. At an interactive meeting with the governor on Monday, we looked into it and we found out it cannot work.” He said Christians would not support it because it would not work, insisting Oyo was a secular state, not an Islamic state.
Speaking on the stand of the state government on the matter, the Chief Press Secretary of the Governor, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, said “Oyo State will not allow anything that is illegal. The issue is not whether we want Sharia or not, the issue is if the Sharia is permitted by the legal system that we run.”
He said the state would act based on the law, adding that anything contrary would not be allowed in the state.
Speaking on the development on Tuesday, Governor Seyi Makinde said, “About the establishment of Sharia court in Oyo town, people may try, but for us, I swore to uphold our laws and the Constitution of Nigeria.
“If their actions are within the law, fine, if not they should expect that I will insist the law must be followed.”
