Do not expand the powers of Sharia, Christians tell lawmakers

The Concerned Christians Citizens of Nigeria (CCCN), under the auspices of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), FCT branch, has called on the house of representatives to refrain from expanding the jurisdiction of the Sharia court of appeal in Nigeria.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Asuquo Allotey, the spokesperson for the group, said plans to expand the jurisdiction of  Sharia would infringe on the rights of Nigerians, of a different religion.

“We call on the house of representatives to halt the move to amend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by expanding the jurisdiction of the Sharia court of appeal to include criminal matters,” he said.

“We have received with rude shock, the news of the ongoing attempt by the house of representatives to amend the constitution by expanding the scope of the powers of the Sharia court of appeal to include criminal jurisdiction.

“In a bill tagged ‘Constitution of Nigeria Alteration Bill 2016’, sponsored by Abdullahi Salame, APC Sokoto, the proponent of the bill sought for the amendment of section 262, subsection one and section 262, subsection 2, and section 277, subsection one, and the deletion of section 277, subsection two of the 1999 constitution.

Allotey said the bill went through first and second reading at the house of representatives without any debate, and was referred to an ad-hoc committee on constitution review.

He also went through what was called “historical review of the attempts to impose Sharia law on the country”.

“Before the second republic, our Muslim brothers started the agitation for the full implementation of Sharia in the country. The heated debate in the 1978 assembly over the insertions of certain provisions relating to the 1979 constitution, are still fresh in our memories.

“As a compromise, Sharia personal law without the criminal aspect was allowed to be included in the 1979 constitution. It was intended to apply strictly to muslims in resolving family matters such as inheritance, marriages, etc.

“Again, in the 1998 assembly, another attempt was made to reintroduce Sharia criminal law into the constitution. The uproar that greeted that attempt led Abdusalami Abubakar to direct that status quo be maintain.”

The group went on to say that some persons have taken cover under the constitution to impose Sharia on their states, highlighting Zamfara, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Yobe have enacted new penal codes to replace the 1960 penal code.

The group also highlighted cases  against Christians in the so called Sharia states, which are said  to be in tandem with the Sharia penal code, including the murder of Eunice Olawale, a deaconess with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, who was killed in Abuja.

Allotey said the group is in vehement opposition of the bill, due to the fact that it violates Nigeria’s constitutional provisions as a secular state, as stated in section 10 of the constitution.

The group also said the bill is out to discriminate against the other religions in the country.