A trader in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has accused a Sharia Court of Appeal in the city of unlawfully seizing and auctioning one of his shops to settle a debt owed by a tenant.
The man, who identified himself as a Christian and claimed he has never been involved with a Sharia Court, made the allegations in a video that has gone viral since Thursday. He stated that the case had nothing to do with him, and he was not invited to any proceedings. Despite this, the court reportedly acted on a case brought by someone claiming that his tenant owed them money.
He said he was shocked to learn that his property, which he built in 2012, had already been sold, even though he still held the original documents. According to the video, court officials only informed him of the auction when they arrived at the premises to execute the order.
“I built four shops in 2012 and rented one out. One day, some people came claiming to be officials of the Sharia Court of Appeal and told me my shop had been auctioned,” he said.
“They said it came from the chief litigation and chief registrar of the Sharia Court. I told them I don’t have any case with them; why should they auction my shop?” he added.
The trader emphasized that the dispute involved his tenant, who allegedly owed a debt, but the goods inside the shop and his legal ownership documents were ignored by court officials.
The video has sparked widespread debate online, with some legal analysts arguing that the court exceeded its authority. Sharia courts in Nigeria are constitutionally limited to matters of Islamic personal law between consenting Muslims. Analysts noted that the seizure contradicts Nigeria’s secular constitutional framework and amounts to a jurisdictional overreach.
