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1 1 (October 18, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejbf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 0 October 18, 2022 Interfaith Relations and Religious Freedom in Nigeria Nigeria is the world's sixth most populous country, with approximately 220 million people. Its population is highly diverse, encompassing hundreds of ethno-linguistic groups. There are no official data on religious affiliation in Nigeria, but its population is estimated to be fairly evenly split between Muslims and Christians; Muslims are a majority in the north and Christians a majority in the south, although there are large Christian communities in the north and vice versa. Intrareligious diversity is extensive, encompassing Sunni, Shia, heterodox, and non-sect-specific Islam, and a wide spectrum of Protestant, Catholic, and nondenominational Christianity. Some Nigerians follow Indigenous faith practices, alone or in combination with Christianity or Islam; others claim no religious affiliation. While Nigeria's faith communities have often coexisted peacefully, religious affairs are sensitive, state persecution on religious grounds has been an enduring problem, and interfaith relations at times flare up and lead to violence. Each year since 2009, the congressionally mandated U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called on the State Department to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA, P.L. 105-292). Oversight of IRFA determinations are a potential issue for Congress, as are the implications of threats to religious freedom for U.S.-Nigeria policy and aid. Some Members of Congress, religious freedom advocates, and State Department reports on international religious freedom have cited a number of concerns in Nigeria, including Sharia Law. Nigeria has a hybrid legal system that blends common and statutory law, customary law (based on mores in particular ethnic communities), and, in the north, sharia, or Islamic law (see map). There are separate courts for each branch of law; civil courts have appellate jurisdiction over customary and sharia courts at the federal and state levels. Figure 1. States in which Sharia Courts Operate Source: CRS, with data from the U.S. Department of State and ESRI. The jurisdiction of sharia courts was limited to personal matters until 1999, when several state governments in the north introduced sharia criminal codes, alongside Islamic policies and institutions. The extension of sharia appeared popular in parts of the north, but spurred protests and clashes in some areas with larger Christian populations. Sharia courts legally may not compel participation by non- Muslims, though non-Muslims can elect to have cases tried in sharia courts; some report a preference for sharia courts, describing them as more efficient and less corrupt than civil courts. Nonetheless, USCIRF assesses that Christians, Shia Muslims-a minority in Nigeria's largely Sunni north-and atheists and have faced discrimination and violations of religious freedom in the course of sharia implementation, including abuses by hisbah associations, which enforce sharia. Blasphemy is illegal under sharia and customary law, and courts in both systems have charged and convicted people of blasphemy, including at least three convictions in 2020-2022. Such cases are often widely publicized and highly charged; appellate courts have overturned several blasphemy convictions on appeal, or vacated the most severe sentences. (There also have been instances of mob violence following blasphemy allegations; see below.) Anti-Shia Repression. Nigeria's minority Shia community, which is concentrated in the northwest, has faced state repression and social discrimination. Many Shia belong to the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), a group led by outspoken cleric Ibrahim Zakzaky, a longtime critic of the Nigerian government. Observers have repeatedly accused security forces of using excessive force to disperse IMN gatherings. In 2015, for instance, the military reportedly killed nearly 350 IMN members and arrested Zakzaky and hundreds of others after a confrontation during an IMN procession. Security forces reportedly killed dozens during IMN protests calling for Zakzaky's release. In 2021, a state civil court acquitted Zakzaky of all charges in the matter. Intercommunal conflict. In the north, allegations of blasphemy have, in some cases, resulted in lynchings and other violence. In May 2022, for instance, a mob lynched a Christian college student, Deborah Samuel, for allegedly blaspheming against Islam in a WhatsApp message to fellow students. Attackers have seldom faced arrest or prosecution following religiously motivated mob violence. Intercommunal conflicts in Nigeria have often played out along sectarian lines, even if not always rooted in religious disagreements. The Middle Belt, an ethno-religiously diverse region in central Nigeria where religious affiliation and ethnic identity often overlap, has seen repeated clashes between Muslims and Christians, at times sparked by blasphemy allegations or other religiously charged events. tongressional Re earth Servce frnuna the iea Iltiv debdtP s 1n 114

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