Sokoto: Hisbah Denies Imposing ‘Sharia’ On Christian Worshippers

The Sokoto State Hisbah Board has pushed back against claims that it is imposing Islamic rules on Christians in the state, dismissing the allegations as false, misleading and capable of inflaming religious tensions.
The controversy erupted after social media posts alleged that the Hisbah Board had begun dictating how Christians should conduct worship in churches.

The development has raised apprehension among Christians worshippers in the state who fear that their rights to free worship as guaranteed in the Constitution will be hampered.
The claims also  included allegations that men and women could no longer worship together in churches, that Christian services were required to be separated along gender lines, and that pastors could not sit with their wives during worship.
The allegations also suggested that the purported restrictions were part of a wider plot to Islamise Nigeria, beginning in Sokoto and eventually spreading to other regions of the country.
But the Commandant of the Sokoto State Hisbah Board, Dr. Usman Abdullahi Jatau, rejected the claims, insisting that they have no basis in the law establishing the agency or in its activities.
Jatau explained that the law establishing the Hisbah Board, enacted by the Sokoto State House of Assembly, applies only to Muslims. He said the agency has no legal authority to regulate Christian worship or dictate how adherents of other faiths practise their religion.
He stressed that the Hisbah Board therefore cannot determine how Christians organise church services, whether men and women worship together, or how pastors interact with their spouses during religious activities.
“Our response is not intended to please or offend anybody, but to correct factual inaccuracies, challenge unsupported assertions, and distinguish facts from malicious and fictitious misinterpretations,” Jatau said.
He warned that attributing such restrictions to the Hisbah Board could create unnecessary religious tension and undermine the peaceful coexistence that has characterised relations among different faith communities in Sokoto.
Jatau also dismissed claims linking the Board to an alleged coordinated effort to Islamise Nigeria, describing the narrative as a political assertion outside the agency’s statutory responsibilities.
He urged Nigerians, particularly residents of the state, to be cautious about unverified information circulating online and resist attempts to exploit religious sentiments for political or social purposes.