{"id":79336,"date":"2025-11-25T20:36:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T20:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=79336"},"modified":"2025-11-25T20:36:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T20:36:32","slug":"sharia-courts-overreach-threaten-christians-rights-nigerias-secular-identity-cbcn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/11\/25\/sharia-courts-overreach-threaten-christians-rights-nigerias-secular-identity-cbcn\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharia Courts\u2019 Overreach Threaten Christians\u2019 Rights, Nigeria\u2019s Secular Identity -CBCN"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ade Iyamoye\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has warned that the growing overreach of Sharia Courts in some northern states poses a serious threat to the constitutional rights of Christian minorities and undermines Nigeria\u2019s secular foundation.<\/p>\n

The warning formed part of a detailed statement issued on Tuesday titled \u201cPeace in Nigeria: Moving from Fragility to Stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bishops said the encroachment of Sharia-related practices into civic and criminal matters affecting non-Muslims has raised \u201cgrave constitutional concerns,\u201d insisting that such actions violate the rights guaranteed to all citizens under the 1999 Constitution.<\/p>\n

They added that the trend erodes Nigeria\u2019s secular character and fosters discrimination against Christians in affected states.<\/p>\n

They cited, among other issues, the denial of land to Christian communities for church buildings, the destruction of places of worship during periods of insurgency, and the activities of morality enforcement groups such as Hisbah, whose operations, they said, frequently result in harassment and intimidation of innocent citizens.<\/p>\n

The bishops noted that the rigid interpretations of religious norms by such groups are often influenced by extremist ideologies, threatening communal harmony and national cohesion.<\/p>\n

Recalling the murder of Deborah Samuel Yakubu in Sokoto, the CBCN said her killing, triggered by extremist interpretations of Sharia-related accusations, reflects the dangers of unchecked religious enforcement.<\/p>\n

They reiterated their demand for justice, warning that impunity in such cases undermines the rule of law and endangers the rights of all Nigerians.<\/p>\n

The bishops also expressed deep concern over the wider security crisis affecting the country, citing recurrent attacks on predominantly Christian communities in the North and Middle Belt, delayed security responses, mass abductions, widespread displacement, and killings that have fuelled allegations of genocide.<\/p>\n

They urged the government to urgently fulfil its constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property, investigate reports of compromised security responses, and secure the release of abducted victims.<\/p>\n

Despite the bleak national picture, the CBCN commended Nigerians for their resilience and urged citizens of all faiths to reject hatred, resist divisive narratives, and work together to rebuild peace.<\/p>\n

They emphasized that defending human dignity and protecting vulnerable communities is a collective responsibility.<\/p>\n

The statement, signed by Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, President of the CBCN, and Bishop Donatus Ogun, Secretary, called for renewed commitment to justice, dialogue, and mutual respect, warning that Nigeria cannot achieve stability while constitutional rights remain threatened by religious overreach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ade Iyamoye\u00a0 The Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has warned that the growing overreach of Sharia Courts in some northern states poses a serious threat to the constitutional rights of Christian minorities and undermines Nigeria\u2019s secular foundation. The warning formed part of a detailed statement issued on Tuesday titled \u201cPeace in Nigeria: Moving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":79337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1724,172,1681],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insecurity","category-news","category-religion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79338,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79336\/revisions\/79338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}