Islamic morality police in northern Nigeria arrested a man and his girlfriend for solemnising their marriage at a restaurant in the northwestern state of Kano.
The Kano State Hisbah Board’s Deputy Commander General of Operations, Dr Mujahideen Abubakar, confirmed the arrest stating that Hisbah personnel raided Banana Restaurant on Zoo Road, Kano on Wednesday night following a tip-off.
“It’s very unfortunate to tell you that the solemnisation of the purported marriage was conducted in the restaurant by friends of the man without the consent of the parents of the couple,” Abubakar said in a statement to The Punch newspaper.
He warned that the board would not fold its arms and allow some undesirable elements to continue to violate the shari’a in the state.
According to the Hisbah official, the board had since launched a manhunt for all the guests who participated in the illegal solemnisation of the marriage.
“We arrested the couple. We are trailing friends of the groom who fled the restaurant after our personnel stormed the place,” he added.
The deputy commander said the couple violated all the marriage conditions, which is a flagrant violation of the Shari’a.
The Hisbah Board is a religious police force responsible for the enforcement of Shari’a to only Muslims in Kano state and other parts of the northern Nigeria.
Since 2000, twelve states in northern Nigeria have added criminal law to the jurisdiction of Shari’a (Islamic law) courts. Shari’a has been in force for many years in northern Nigeria, where the majority of the population is Muslim, but until 2000, its scope was limited to personal status and civil law.
The relationship between the Hisbah Corps and civil police has been sometimes acrimonious. The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), to whom the Hisbah must report crimes, frequently refuse to cooperate in enforcement of religious law.
On multiple occasions, NPF officers have arrested Hisbah members for trespassing when the latter have attempted to enter private property to enforce Sharia. And, in 2006, two senior Hisbah officers were detained by federal police and questioned on suspicion they were seeking foreign funding to train militants.
As of 2010 there were approximately 9,000 male and female officers of the Kano State Hisbah Corps.
The Kano State Hisbah court has extended its rule to some Northern States with high population of Muslims in Nigeria. Some regions in States like Kaduna and Kwara now have rules from the court that governs them. The court set up rules that bans women and girls from using Mobile phones and sunglasses amongst other things listed.
There have been series of opposition from groups against the implementation of Sharia law in the southwestern region of Nigeria.
Last week, a Yoruba group held a street awareness in the ancient town of Oyo and a press conference , rejecting the introduction of Sharia in the region. Another round of awareness and press conference was held in Ekiti State on Tuesday.
The Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, on Saturday, ordered the dissolution of the Sharia panel set up at the Central Mosque in Ado Ekiti.
The Ekiti State government had said existing legal structure in the state did not recognise the Sharia Court or Sharia Arbitration Panel, with the State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Dayo Apata, (SAN) calling for caution after reports stipulating the first public sitting of a Shari’ah Panel in the state which resolved two marriage disputes.
The Ogun State Government also warned against any attempt to establish a Sharia Court in the southwestern state.
The Yoruba Nation Religious Council (YONAREC), a coalition of the Yorùbá Nation Christian Association (YORNCA) , Muslim Association of Yorùbá Nation (MAYON), and Imo Oodaiye Orile Ede Yorùbá (IMỌ OODÁIYÉ/IṢẸṢẸ), also rejected the Islamic law.
Traditional leaders in the southwestern region of the country have also warned that any attempt to initiate Sharia law in the region will cause anarchy, division, and instability.
The United Kingdom (UK) and Europe branch of Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, otherwise known as UK Afenifere strongly rejected the clamour by some Muslims for the establishment of Sharia law in the South-West region.
The group cautioned those clamouring for the establishment of Sharia law in the South-West to immediately desist from such acts to avoid disunity amongst the Yoruba people.
The group said Yoruba people are too intelligent and enlightened to be gaslighted along religious divides.
The group added that the predominantly Yoruba South-West is distinct from the Northern region where Muslims are in the majority.
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