Police who
enforce Islamic law in Nigeria’s northern city of
Kano have arrested 150 people in the last week,
including for indecent dress, as part of a crackdown on immorality, a spokesman said
Tuesday. Some people in Nigeria’s second city have been
picked up for sporting hair styles inspired by
prominent international football players, said
Mohammed Yusuf Yola, spokesman for Kano’s
sharia police, or Hisbah. Others were thrown in jail and fined for wearing
their trousers too low on their waists, mimicking
a style that became prominent in the 1990s,
partly through the influence of some American
hip hop artists. The arrests have followed an order by Kano state
Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to cleanse the
city of immoral practices and the trend is set to
continue in the weeks ahead, said Hisbah
Director-General Abba Sufi. The Hisbah is a state police force funded by state
government and is not part of the federal police. “We have arrested 150 men and women in the
past week, including prostitutes and their
boyfriends, transvestites, alcoholics and those
engaged in indecent dressing in contravention of
the sharia legal code,” Yola told AFP. Religion has repeatedly been used as a political
issue in Kano and the governor, seen as a
moderate, has been accused by rivals of lacking
commitment to sharia’s guidelines. Yola insisted the operation was launched to
reverse disturbing trends in the city of some five
million people and is targetting people of various
faiths. “Those arrested include Muslims and non-
Muslims and we treat them equally because this is
about morality,” he said. Kano, like the rest of northern Nigeria, is majority
Muslim, but the city has a sizeable Christian
minority. Some of those arrested have been released after
paying fines ranging from 10,000 naira ($63, 46
euros) to 15,000 naira, Yola said. “Those who could not afford the fine are being
kept in prison,” he added, but he would not
specify the number of people currently being
held. At the restoration of civilian rule in 1999, 12
northern states, including Kano, formally adopted
sharia, but the Islamic legal system has been
unevenly applied. The Hisbah was formed in 2001, largely to
enforce sharia, but the force has other duties,
including some community development work
and alternative dispute resolution. The southern half of Nigeria, Africa’s most
populous country, is mostly Christian.
enforce Islamic law in Nigeria’s northern city of
Kano have arrested 150 people in the last week,
including for indecent dress, as part of a crackdown on immorality, a spokesman said
Tuesday. Some people in Nigeria’s second city have been
picked up for sporting hair styles inspired by
prominent international football players, said
Mohammed Yusuf Yola, spokesman for Kano’s
sharia police, or Hisbah. Others were thrown in jail and fined for wearing
their trousers too low on their waists, mimicking
a style that became prominent in the 1990s,
partly through the influence of some American
hip hop artists. The arrests have followed an order by Kano state
Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to cleanse the
city of immoral practices and the trend is set to
continue in the weeks ahead, said Hisbah
Director-General Abba Sufi. The Hisbah is a state police force funded by state
government and is not part of the federal police. “We have arrested 150 men and women in the
past week, including prostitutes and their
boyfriends, transvestites, alcoholics and those
engaged in indecent dressing in contravention of
the sharia legal code,” Yola told AFP. Religion has repeatedly been used as a political
issue in Kano and the governor, seen as a
moderate, has been accused by rivals of lacking
commitment to sharia’s guidelines. Yola insisted the operation was launched to
reverse disturbing trends in the city of some five
million people and is targetting people of various
faiths. “Those arrested include Muslims and non-
Muslims and we treat them equally because this is
about morality,” he said. Kano, like the rest of northern Nigeria, is majority
Muslim, but the city has a sizeable Christian
minority. Some of those arrested have been released after
paying fines ranging from 10,000 naira ($63, 46
euros) to 15,000 naira, Yola said. “Those who could not afford the fine are being
kept in prison,” he added, but he would not
specify the number of people currently being
held. At the restoration of civilian rule in 1999, 12
northern states, including Kano, formally adopted
sharia, but the Islamic legal system has been
unevenly applied. The Hisbah was formed in 2001, largely to
enforce sharia, but the force has other duties,
including some community development work
and alternative dispute resolution. The southern half of Nigeria, Africa’s most
populous country, is mostly Christian.
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