SOKOTO: Assembly passes bill to establish sharia police board

THE State House of Assembly has passed a bill for the establishment of the state Hisbah Board.

This followed the adoption of the report of the House Joint Committee on Religious Affairs, Judiciary and Human Rights at plenary.

Presenting the report, Chairman of the Committee Alhaji Abubakar Yabo (APC- Yabo), said that the committee consulted widely among stakeholders before arriving at its decisions.

The lawmakers unanimously adopted the report after a voice vote by Speaker Aminu Achida who presided over the sitting.

Hisbah is with saddled with the enforcement of the Sahria law. Its task basically is that of moral policing of some Northern states where the residents are predominantly Muslim.

The task of Hisbah is to uphold Islamic tenets and arrest those practising what Islamic religion frown upon.

Hisbah officers have initiated many arrests; the group became subject of discussion last year when it kicked against using the phrase “Black Friday”

The Kano State Hisbah Board had instructed Cool FM Nigeria, Kano Office to stop using the phrase.

It hinged its opposition on  the fact that Kano was a Muslim dominated state, Fridays must not be called black Friday.

However, the group has recently been criticised recently for not practising what it preaches as some of its officers are secretly involved in what they arrest  others for doing.

Just yesterday an Hisbah commander, Sani Uba Rimo,  was arrested by with a married woman in a hotel.

Rimo, who is said to be in charge of Anti-begging was nabbed by the police in Downtown Hotel in Sabon Gari area of Kano metropolis last Monday night.

The Hisbah officer was arrested after a complaint was lodged by the husband of the woman with whom he allegedly had an affair with.

Meanwhile, according to Hisbah Public Relations Officer, Lawal Ibrahim, Rimo has been put under investigation by the Kano State Hisbah Board. They set up a five-man committee to investigate the official.

He added that the committee had been given three days to submit its report to the board for necessary action. He said after the investigation, the board would take necessary disciplinary action against the officer.

“But if the outcome of the investigation or the recommendations are beyond the power of the board, it will forward same to the appropriate authority for necessary action,” he said.