A civil society organisation, One Nation One Law (ONOL), has expressed support for the National Assembly’s initiative to define and criminalise torture, saying the continued inclusion of Sharia law in the Nigerian Constitution is the primary enabler of torture in the country.
The group made the submissions in its memorandum presented to the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, obtained by journalists in Abuja on Monday.
The organisation, in the document signed by Benson Sunday, said the legislation, if fully implemented, would provide clear legal definitions of torture, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
It, however, argued that the legislation would be superficial if Sections 275 to 279, which establish the Sharia legal system, are not dismantled.
It pointed out that while Section 34(1)(a) of the Constitution states that “No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment,” the same document empowers Sharia courts in 12 northern states to administer punishments like amputation, stoning to death, and public flogging.
The group argued that these constitutional provisions provide legal cover for court-sanctioned torture.
According to the organisation, the existence of Sharia law emboldens mob violence, citing the recent burning of a woman in Niger State over alleged blasphemy in August 2025, the 2022 lynching of student Deborah Samuel in Sokoto, and the death sentence passed on Yahaya Sharif-Aminu in Kano in 2020.
“The Sharia provisions not only enable cruel punishments by courts but also fuel mob violence and torture to death by ordinary citizens who feel empowered by Sharia law,” the paper stated.
“We strongly believe that removing Sharia provisions from the Constitution will bring an end to such killings, mob actions, and tortures across Nigeria.”
Beyond physical violence, the presentation detailed what it called the psychological torture inflicted on non-Muslims and dissenting Muslims by the mere presence of Sharia in the supreme law of the land.
This, according to the document, includes feelings of second-class citizenship, a constant fear of persecution, and the erosion of national unity due to a dual legal system.
The group presented a stark religious bias within the Constitution’s text, noting that the words “Sharia,” “Grand Kadi,” “Islam,” and “Muslims” are mentioned a combined 165 times, while there is no single mention of Christianity, the Bible, or Churches.
The organisation described it as an institutional bias and an inhuman act of discrimination against other faiths in a multi-religious country, adding that “this practical adoption of Islam as a state religion violates Section 10 of the Constitution, which prohibits such a designation.”
