Threats and counter threats continue to trail the plot by the National Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in Nigeria to secretly Islamise the entire South west region of the country through the introduction of the Sharia legal system
By Lukmon Ojerinde
The South west region was caught in frenzy situation in October 2024 when the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) and the National Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in what is regarded as a devious move jointly inaugurated the Islamic Sharia Legal System in Ado Ekiti, the capital city of Ekiti State. The two Islamic bodies had also code-named the Sharia Legal System “the Independent Arbitration Panel”. The inauguration of the Sharia Panel thus berthed the Sharia Law administration in the South west geopolitical zone.
Lending support to the Sharia law operation in the entire Yorubaland, the Nasrul-lahi-li Faith Society (NASFAT), said the establishment of Sharia Courts in the South west was non-negotiable because according to Alhaji Ayodeji AbdulRauf, the President of NASFAT, Sharia Legal System must be applied in all the South west states for both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Speaking to the media in Lagos early in the year, AbdulRauf said, “NASFAT is already coming up with what we call an arbitration centre in the South west. We don’t want to name it NASFAT.
“It will be an arbitration centre for Muslims, for non-Muslims to come and then we dialogue on certain things, and in the process we apply our Sharia Law. There must be an adaptive way”.
The Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel had on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 chose a strategic location in the centre of Yorubaland to launch the first Sharia Court adjudication. The choice of the popular Oja Oba Central Mosque in Ado Ekiti for the first sitting of the Sharia Court was a clear signal to the Yoruba nation that the religious legal system being dreaded by petty thieves, alcoholics, adulterers among such other sundry Islamic crimes, in the 12 core Muslim states of the Northern Nigeria, has rooted in the domain.
The first sitting of the Sharia Court in Ado Ekiti was presided over by three Kadhis namely, Imam Abdullahi Abdul-Mutolib, Imam Abdulraheem Junaid-Bamigbola and Dr. Ibrahim Aminullahi-Ogunrinde who handled sundry marital disputes based on the Islamic jurisprudence.
Since that fateful day, religious war drums have been sounding within the Yoruba nation over the alleged plot by the Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammad Sa’ad Abubakar the Third and the Sokoto Caliphate to Islamise the six South west states through subtlety. The Sultan, Abubakar 111, is the reigning President of NSCIA in Nigeria.
To fire the first salvo against Sharia Court anywhere in the South west were the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, the paramount ruler of the ancient capital city, Oba Rufus Adejugbe and the Ekiti State government respectively.
The traditional ruler of Ado Ekiti who promptly summoned the promoters of the Sharia Panel from the Oja Oba Central Mosque while they barely rounded off the maiden sitting, after a few hours meeting with the parties, had sensed the danger the Sharia Court portends if allowed to spread, and decreed thus, “The Panel stands dissolved.
“If we should allow such committees, the Christians too will want to set up committees in their various churches, the traditional worshippers too, and before you know it, it will lead to religious crisis”.
In a quick reaction, the government of Ekiti State through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dayo Apata, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), insisted that the state had no idea of the existence of a Sharia Court in its domain.
Apata said that “the Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel is not in the judicial structure of the state, Arbitration/or Mediation issue is a Quasi-judicial matters which are regulated by the law in the state”.
The Justice Commissioner advised that there is an existing legal structure in the state, including the Customary Court, the Customary Court of Appeal and the High Court, which has been handling cases which relate to Islamic, Christian and traditional marriages and inheritance without rancour and agitation.
The strong-worded reactions of the Ado Ekiti monarch and Ekiti State government have since elicited numerous other serious reactions and threats targeting the Sultan of Sokoto and other promoters of Sharia law administration in Yorubaland. These threats of war have intensified immediately the Caliphate gave its official support for the establishment of the Islamic Legal System in the embattled zone.
On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, the NSCIA headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, had issued a statement on behalf of the Sultan in which he expressed concern about what he regarded as the spate of intolerance and disregard for the rights of Muslims in the South west where he said Islamic adherents were denied their constitutional rights.
In the statement signed by the Deputy National Legal Adviser to NSCIA, Imam Haroun Eze, Abubakar condemned the unwarranted resistance and objections from political and traditional leaders to the Muslim community’s efforts to establish the Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel in Ekiti State.
The Sultan stated that such issues as denial of rights of female students to wear the Hijab despite a Supreme Court judgement, were all attempts to prevent Muslims in the South west from practising their religious faith. The Sultan further argued that the Arbitration Panel and Sharia Court of Appeal, like the Customary Court of Appeal, were provided for in Section 275 of the 1999 Constitution.
The statement read in part, “The Independent Arbitration Panel which is a voluntary platform designed solely for the resolution of civil and marital disputes among consenting Muslims, was to fill the inexplicable vacuum created by the failure of the political elite in the South western Nigeria to establish Sharia Courts as allowed by the Nigerian Constitution in the South western states despite the huge population of Muslims in the region.
“The National Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs strongly supports the establishment of Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel in Ekiti and Oyo States for the purpose so intended, especially where the Muslims in the states have been denied their constitutional rights to a Sharia Court of Appeal in all the states of the South western Nigeria.
“The Council cannot find any legal justification for the unnecessary alarm and unwarranted resistance. All the states in the North have Sharia Courts and in addition have Customary Courts.
“The Council calls on the governors and traditional authorities in the Southern part of the country, particularly the South west, to ensure that the constitutional rights of the Muslims in their respective domains are preserved and protected. While others are allowed to live, Muslims should also be let to live”.
Corroborating the Sultan, a former Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, attributed the lack of understanding as the reason why the Sharia Panel was being opposed in the South west region. He said, “In Yorubaland, whether governors or the so-called Yoruba activists, their problem is ignorance of the Constitution of Nigeria. Sharia is about the fundamental human rights in relation to the region. The Constitution guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
“What is the sense of two Muslims going to get married in the mosque under the Sharia law, when they want to divorce, you ask them to go to the Customary Court which may be completely made up of even Christians, animists or people who do not understand the law under which these people got married?
“Common sense dictates that the law under which you married should be the one to be used in deciding on your divorce.
“In Oyo State, there has been a Sharia Panel, and in Lagos State for more than 10 years. What crisis has it caused to anybody? Has any Christian or non-Muslim been drafted to a Sharia Court?
“These constitutional fundamental religious rights are inherent in you as a human being whether in Ekiti or anywhere. People have a right to determine under which law they manage their affairs. I expect the Muslim community in those states would take the government or people trying to disturb their peace to court”.
As the war rages, not a few individuals and groups, even governments in the South west, have reechoed stern resistance to the introduction of Sharia in South west. Some alleged it was Islamisation plot in disguise, while others insisted it must be resisted because of its negative implications.
Iba Gani Adams, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland argued that the Sharia Legal System was alien to Yoruba culture, and should not be adopted in any part of the region. Speaking at the 2025 Oodua Festival held in Enuwa Square in Ile-Ife, Osun State on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, Adams alleged that the introduction of Sharia in Yorubaland was a ploy to destabilize the region by religious fanatics and fundamentalists. He said in Saudi Arabia where Sharia law is practised, it is an Islamic Kingdom where Sharia aligns with religious teachings and accepted by the citizens, in comparison with Nigeria which remains a country where the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
“Saudi Arabia is a good example of an Islamic Kingdom that practises Sharia law according to the Holy Quran. The Saudis also adhere strictly to the law, and they are happy because Sharia is in tandem with their religious beliefs and teachings.
“However, Nigeria is a secular nation where the Constitution allows every citizen to practise whatever religion they believe in freely without any intimidation.
“Sharia law is alien to our culture and religious beliefs in Yorubaland, therefore, those religious fanatics masquerading as Muslims should stay away from acts that could set the Yorubaland on fire”, Adams submitted.
The Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, on his part, had also declared Sharia law in Yorubaland illegal and unwanted export from the Caliphate. Reacting on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, to fliers which circulated in the state announcing the existence of a Sharia Arbitration Committee in the state, Abiodun had insisted that there would be no place for Sharia administration in his state.
According to the governor in a statement, “The Ogun State government has noted the circulation of a digital notice announcing the launch of a Sharia Court in Ogun State.
“No Sharia Court is authorized to operate within Ogun State. The courts that are legally empowered to adjudicate disputes arising within Ogun State are those established by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or by state’s laws which are: the Magistrates’ Court, High Court, Customary Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, National Industrial Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
“No law operating in Ogun State has established a Sharia Court, and Sharia law does not form part of the legal framework by which the Ogun State government administers and governs the society.
“The Ogun State government upholds and protects the rights of individuals to practise the religion of their choice, or to subscribe to no-religion, and recognizes the freedom of individuals to apply their faith in their personal and private matters.
“However, this freedom does not extend to the formation of unauthorized assemblies or institutions. No individual or group is allowed or legally permitted to constitute a court or present themselves to the public as court without legal backing.
“Those behind that notice have no legal backing. They cannot set up a court or administer justice by fiat or public notice.
“The Ogun State government hereby directs that all persons involved in the creation of or operation of this unauthorized court must immediately cease all related activities and disband the illegal entity and all its operations”.
The Yoruba Nation Youths (YNY), an organization of young adults in the South west region, has also been spitting fire against any form of Sharia Arbitration Panel in the zone. The YNY specifically directed their venom against the Sultan of Sokoto and the NSCIA while threatening that Sharia in Yorubaland would ignite war.
Leaders of the YNY both within and outside Nigeria, Prophet Ayodele Ologunloluwa and Oyegunle Omotoyole respectively, accused the Caliphate and the Hausa-Fulani of devising clandestine strategy to conquer and enslave the Yorubaland in the guise of Sharia law.
“The Fulanisation agenda to conquer our land is not hidden, and they are using every method in the book to work towards perfecting the agenda.
“We do not want our monarchs and governors in the South west to be deceived by the so-called Sharia law/court by whatever method they may be using.
“We say no to Sharia law or courts in Yorubaland. This Sharia law scheme is hypocritical, we don’t need it in Yorubaland. We, the Yoruba, reject anything that would affect our culture, tradition and lifestyle.
“We, Yoruba youths both home and diaspora, like to caution you on your latest antics to renew your grand 1804 design to conquer the entire Yorubaland by trying to establish Sharia law in our homeland”, the YNY stated.
Amplifying the Sharia war drums, the Chief Imam of Yorubaland, Sheik Abdulraheem Aduanigba, warned in a viral video released on Thursday, February 6, 2025 that any attempt to impose Sharia in any part of the Yorubaland would result in war. He stressed that because Muslims are in the minority in Yorubaland, any ploy to foist Sharia would ignite war in the region.
“Sharia cannot work in Yorubaland because our general language is Yoruba. When we talk of Yoruba, there are three distinct religions. Our religion in Yorubaland is a traditional religion before the advent of Christianity. When Christianity came, it gave birth to Islam. In Yorubaland today, we have 27 million Christians, 23 million Muslims and 10 million traditional worshippers.
“In Yorubaland today, there are 972 traditional rulers. So, if we say we should introduce Sharia, it will contradict the system we have been using in our law. We in the South west are aware that some of us celebrate masquerade festivals, some mark Christmas and Easter, some celebrate Ramadan and Ileya.
“So, if some of us in Yoruba decide to use Sharia, Sharia means women should cover their heads and we will start quarreling with women who don’t cover their heads; those who drink alcoholic drinks, Sharia will frown at them. Yorubaland can’t allow such system.
“Sharia cannot work, and the reason is that the money generated from breweries in Lagos is the money given to the North which practises Sharia. The internally generated revenue from hotels where there are commercial sex workers is given to the North who cannot allow such things.
“That’s why I’m happy with the Tax Reform Bills that President Tinubu initiated that each state should be given the fair share of its IGR. So, that’s why Sharia cannot work in Yorubaland if we don’t want to cause war.
“It could cause war when a female wears knicker (shorts) on the road and Muslims pick her up because she has flouted Sharia. It’s not that it’s only we Muslims that dominate Yorubaland.
“So, Sharia cannot work in the South west. Sharia is an agenda by the North. What they want to do is to first use Sharia to settle marital cases, they are deceiving us.
“Thereafter, they will say whoever wants to share their inheritance in the Muslim way should do so. If they apply that, in Yorubaland, a father may have children who are Christians, Muslims and traditional religious worshippers. Therefore, Sharia cannot work in Yorubaland if we don’t want to ignite war “.
The Society for Yoruba Culture Renaissance (SYCR) advised the Sultan of Sokoto to confine Sharia law in the North because it cannot thrive in Yorubaland. It accused the Caliphate of plot to ignite religious war in the South west.
The group in a recent press statement said, “Our attention has been drawn to the misguided press release by the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. The Yoruba people firmly reject the imposition of Sharia law or any Sharia Panel in Yorubaland. Sharia law is alien to our society as it is an Arabic cultural practice suited for societies with over 80 percent Muslim population.
“Claims of preventing students from wearing Hijab are false and serve only to blackmail the peace loving Yoruba people.
“The Sharia law practised in the North has not added value to the society but has exacerbated the suffering of the people. We call attention to the origins of Boko Haram and other terrorists groups which began with the implementation of Sharia law. We do not want destabilization in our society.
“Keep Sharia law in Sokoto and other Northern states. Yorubaland will maintain its peaceful nature and uphold its cultural values”.
Similarly, the Yoruba Regional Alliance (YRA) which protested in Ado Ekiti in January against Sharia Court in the South west, also insisted that the Sharia Arbitration Panel cannot succeed in the Yorubaland.
Likewise, the International Council for Ifa Religion, stressed that Sharia was not welcomed in the region. Its President, Fayemi Fatunde warned that the group could perceive the hidden agenda behind the Sharia law introduction plot.
The Olukosi of Ilukosi-Ijesa in Osun State, Oba Omotooyosi Adebayo Akinleye, had written a warning letter to the Sultan of Sokoto to the effect that the Sharia law plot would not fly. The traditional ruler who wrote via his X handle, said, “Regarding Sharia law in the South west, its implementation poses challenges due to our secular framework”.
