Kano to enforce booze ban

2004-05-08 15:13

Kano - The commercial heart of Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, Kano State, has banned Christians from drinking or selling alcohol, in its first move to impose the principles of sharia law on non-Muslims.

Sule Ya'u Sule, spokesperson for Kano's Islamist governor Ibrahim Shekarau, said non-Muslims would be fined 50 000 naira (about R2 510) or jailed for up to a year if they were caught drinking or selling alcohol.

Members of Kano's Muslim majority already face a flogging if caught drinking, under Islamic sharia law, which 12 northern Nigerian states have been gradually introducing into their penal codes since the end of military rule in 1999.

The decision may raise tensions in the state capital, where many members of the Christian minority run bars and even wholesale beer warehouses in the Sabon Gari district of Kano city.

Luxury hotels geared to business travellers and army cantonments housing troops from all corners of the country also persist in serving alcohol.

Sule said: "The law has been promulgated with best of intentions and it is not meant to persecute anybody, but intended to sanitise society.

Vigilante action expected in wake of ban

"Those who are crying persecution are only being sentimental as no divine religion encourages drinking.

"The government will go to any extent to protect the rights of everyone living in this state, irrespective of his religious inclination.

"At the same time, the government will leave no stone unturned in ensuring morality and decency in the society, which is what sharia is all about."

Sule said judicial officials would have to examine the wording of the law, which was passed by Kano's house of assembly, before a decision was taken on how to enforce it, especially in areas like Sabon Gari.

But, most people in Kano now expect the "hisbah", an Islamic vigilante force which has recently been taken under the wing of Shekerau's government, to rapidly begin enforcing the ban throughout the city and the state.

After the decision, Igbo traders and hoteliers held talks with Shekarau, but both sides refused to comment after the meeting.

- AFP