Some netizens have taken to social media to react differently to the news of the inauguration of a Sharia Court in Oyo State.
In a now-viral flier on X, the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria, Oyo State chapter, announced plans to inaugurate a Sharia Court in Oyo town and its environs.
According to the flier, the event is scheduled for January 11, 2025, at the Muslim Community Islamic Centre, located along Oba Adeyemi High School Road in the Mobolaje area of Oyo.
The flier also revealed that the inauguration will feature prominent figures, including the Bashorun of Oyo land, High Chief Yusuf Akinade Olayinka 1, as the royal father of the day, and the Mufasir of Oyo land, Alhaji Abdul Lateef Abdulaazeez Eleyele, as the spiritual father of the day, while Alhaji Tajudeen Abdul-Hammed Kamorise, the Aare Musulumi of Oyo land, is listed as the chief host.
While some netizens have expressed support for the announcement, others have strongly criticised it.
Opponents argue that establishing a Sharia court in the South West, a region predominantly inhabited by Yoruba people undermines the area’s cultural and religious diversity, where no single faith is dominant.
Supporting the adoption of Sharia law in Oyo and, by extension, South West states, a popular X user, @Waspapping, tweeted, “Sharia court will be established in the southwest and heaven won’t fall. You can’t do anything to stop it.”
Supporting his stance, another user, @MFaarees, tweeted, “If you’re a Muslim and you don’t want Sharia Law, you really need to question your Imaan. Like, how can you be Muslim and hate what Allah SWT commands?”
Opposing the development, an X user, @bin_gbada, tweeted, “I’m a Muslim & I’m TOTALLY against a Sharia law in Yoruba land. All hands should be on deck to ensure that no sharia law is passed anywhere in the Southwest. It should be collectively rejected. I’m an advocate against sharia laws.”
Another user, @IleAjisefa, wrote, “If you’re silent on this Sharia law saga in the Southwest, then you’re enabling it. Even if we can’t see the implications of the laws in other nations, we can see it in the north.
“The question is ‘what progress does it bring?’ And those that claim it will be for Muslims only, don’t forget that was how they started in the north and Hisbah can arrest anyone now. We reject sharia law in its entirety. No to sharia law in Yorubaland.”
“There must be no sharia law in the southwest. There must be no sharia courts in the southwest. We are a secular country under secular laws! No one should even try to play that useless game over here. Amen,” @Pfemiolaleye wrote.
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