Is blasphemy illegal in Nigeria?
Criminal offense
Nigeria criminalizes blasphemy under its Criminal Code and Sharia law in some states.
Nigeria is one of 40 countries classified “Criminal offense” for blasphemy — 70% of the 57 with data.
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Blasphemy law
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Algeria
- Criminal offense Algeria's blasphemy laws carry up to 5 years imprisonment and fines, enforced through retaliatory legislation rather than Sharia.
- Sudan
- Criminal offense Sudan criminalizes insulting religion with imprisonment, fines, and lashes under Section 125.
- Mauritania
- Death penalty possible Moritania's Penal Code prescribes death penalty for apostasy, a form of blasphemy.
- Malta
- Criminal offense Malta repealed its blasphemy laws in 2016.
- Egypt
- Criminal offense Egypt's blasphemy laws carry imprisonment and fines, with penalties for insulting religious beliefs under Article 98(f) of the Penal Code.
- Tanzania
- Criminal offense Tanzania criminalizes acts of sacrilege and wounding religious feelings with imprisonment up to 2 years.
Other laws in Nigeria
- Apostasy Laws
- Criminal offense
- Holocaust Denial
- No specific law
- Flag Desecration
- Criminal offense
- Conversion Therapy
- No ban
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.