Groups protest inauguration of Sharia Arbitration Panel in Ekiti

The inauguration of the Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel in Ado Ekiti last week has continued to spark controversy.

A group called the Yoruba Regional Alliance (YRA) staged a protest against the panel on Tuesday, further fueling the debate.

This follows the state government’s earlier statement, distancing itself from the establishment of the Sharia panel.

In a statement, the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dayo Apata (SAN), said the Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel is not in the judicial structure of the state, adding that “Arbitration and/or Mediation issues are quasi-judicial matters which are regulated by Law”, in the state.

However, the protesters gathered at the Adebayo area of Ado Ekiti, where they chanted songs and carried placards with various inscriptions such as ‘No to Sharia in Yorubaland’, ‘Sharia will cause war’, ‘Sharia is a constitutional blunder’, ‘we reject Sharia’, just to mention a few.

Police intervention prevented the Yoruba Regional Alliance (YRA) protest from escalating into potential chaos and bloodshed. YRA leader Opeoluwa Akinola addressed the media, alleging that the push for Sharia law in Yoruba land is a deliberate attempt to sow discord and disharmony. Akinola emphasised that Sharia practices do not align with Yoruba values.

Mr Akinola noted that the Yoruba people, irrespective of their religions, have coexisted peacefully for generations without the Sharia penal code, wondering what the Sharia law introduction is going to achieve that the existing penal codes and legal systems operative in Yoruba land cannot.

He said, “We totally reject and condemn the proposed inauguration while calling on the Ekiti State Government and relevant authorities to forestall the impending catastrophe by immediately putting a stop to any further preparations by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria to inaugurate the Sharia panel in Ekiti State and any other part of Yoruba land.

“What positive advantage has Sharia contributed to the economy and well-being of the indigenes of the 12 northern states where it’s been practised? The affected states are still been overwhelmed with poverty, out-of-school children, insecurity, and child molestation.

“For decades, Muslims from the north of Nigeria have been attempting to export their brand of political Islam, which allegedly espouses violence, intolerance, Jihad, and the anachronistic Sharia Islamic code into Yorubaland.

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“We call on all Yoruba Muslim organisations, Christian associations, Isese, and other Ibile traditional worshipers and Ifa adherents to come out in virulent condemnation of the move, as they want to cause a schism in the age-old harmonious relationships between all our people in Yoruba land.

The chairperson of the Yoruba Nation Religious Council (YONAREC), Oluwafemi Edafemi, said the group is opposed to introducing the Islamic legal system known as Sharia into Yorubaland.

He said the proposal, allegedly spearheaded by external religious fanatics from the North with the collaboration of a few Yoruba Muslims, is not a representative of the cultural heritage of the Yoruba people.

He called on all Yoruba people, both within and outside the nation, to resist the imposition and stand firm in protecting the Yoruba nation’s unity, culture, and freedom.