Hisbah purports to be a law enforcement agency in the northern states in Nigeria created by law to enforce religious law. It is therefore imperative to beam a search light in order to find out if there is any legal substratum on which hisbah pivots.
I wont bore the readers by delving deep into legal hermeneutics. Instead, I will jurisprudentially illuminate the unconstitutionality and illegality of hisbah in Nigeria by citing relevant sections of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) (hereinafter referred to as the Constitution) which is the grundnorm of the Nigerian legal system.
Section 10 of the Constitution clearly prohibits State Religion. Section 15 (2) prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion etc. and finally section 38 (1) guarantees the right to Freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Despite the position of the Constitution on this issues, hisbah still continues to arrest, intimidate and prosecute people for eating in public restaurants in the northern states of Nigeria at a time not permitted by a particular religion. Worse still, drinks amounting to millions of Naira are still being destroyed by hisbah in the northern states of Nigeria while purportedly enforcing the laws of a particular religion.
For the avoidance of doubt, Section 1(3) voids any law which is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution. Hisbah and the laws that purportedly created it in the northern states of Nigeria remains unconstitutional, null and void and therefore illegal!
Ends.
Osamudiamen Obasogie is a human rights lawyer in Nigeria.
Email: o.obasogieesq@nigerianbar.ng
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/obasogieosamudiamen
Twitter: @OObasogie
Hashtag: #OObasogie
You must be logged in to post a comment.