Christians claim persecution

2004-05-08 23:14

Kano - Christian hotel and bar owners in northern Nigeria's largest commercial city, Kano, claimed on Saturday that they are victims of religious persecution after their Islamist state government banned alcohol.

Kano lives under Islamic Sharia law, which bans the sale and drinking of alcohol, but until this week Christians were permitted to run bars and hotels, especially in their minority ghetto, the city's Sabon Gari district.

On Thursday, Kano's state assembly approved a law introducing a fine of 50,000 naira (about R2 500) or a jail term of up to one year for non-Muslims engaged in the booze trade.

Imposition of Islam

"The enforcement of this law is an imposition of Islam on Christians living in Kano, despite government's claim that Sharia affects only Muslims," Olayiwola Adeaga, president of Kano's Hoteliers and Licensed Liquor Operators Association told reporters.

"We find the law an infringement of our rights. The law is certainly discriminatory because it is unjust to prescribe such a harsh punishment for Christians, who are not bound by Sharia, while a Muslim, on whom Sharia is binding, gets only 80 strokes for the same offence," he said.

Kano's Muslims face a largely symbolic caning if caught drinking, under the provisions of Sharia, which 12 northern Nigerian states have been gradually introducing into their penal codes since the end of military rule in 1999.

"There are 350 hotels, 500 beer parlours and 250 taverns in Sabon Gari, which means thousands of people will lose their jobs if the law is implemented," Adeaga said, warning that Christians might flee the city if their livelihoods are threatened.

- AFP