- Hisbah punishes youths for keeping Afro hair, playing music, dancing
Officials of Islamic Police, Hisbah, in Kaduna State have banned girls and ladies in Kuriga Village under Chikun Local Government Area from using or possessing mobile phones and sunglasses.
A resident of the community, who pleaded anonymity for fear of attacks, raised the alarm over the increasing repressive activities of the religious police in the region.
“Hisbah is punishing youths for keeping Afro hair and sometimes it is accompanied with beating. They have also prevented women and girls from using smartphones, claiming that it is used to spread unIslamic behaviours. They are just terrorising us.”
Another resident of the town also said Hisbah personnel have prohibited women and girls from using sunglasses.
“They also sometimes storm houses where ceremonies are taking place and punish playing of music, dancing and any form of entertainment,” he said.
Hisbah recently made headlines for shaving off stylish haircuts of young men in Kano, arresting people for improper dressing and seizing tricycles from riders for adorning them with pictures considered to be obscene and against the tenents of Islam.
The agency established to enforce Sharia law in some states in Northern Nigeria, also banned stylish haircuts, sagging of trousers and playing of music at social events by disk jockeys in Kebbi State.
Copyright Saharareporters
