The Kano State Hisbah Board has confiscated at least 1,600 bottles of assorted beer in the Panshekara area of Kano metropolis, the agency’s deputy commander said on Wednesday.
“Yesterday, with the support and cooperation of the Panshekara community, our personnel were able to intercept and confiscate 1,600 bottles of beer,” Deputy Commander General Mujahid Aminudeen said in a telephone interview.
Aminudeen, who declined to say whether arrests were made, said the alcohol was in bottles, cans and plastic containers.
“We call on members of the public to continue to support the board in the fight against the consumption and sale of all intoxicants,” he said. “The law which establishes the Kano State Hisbah Board is clear because it prohibits the sale and consumption of beer and other intoxicants in the state.”
He added that the board would intensify campaigns to educate the public on the dangers of alcohol consumption and would seek a court order for the destruction of the confiscated drinks.
Hisbah, the religious police operating in northern Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim states, has stepped up enforcement of Shariah-based restrictions on alcohol and related activities.
In August, the Yobe State Hisbah Commission destroyed a large quantity of confiscated alcoholic drinks and arraigned suspected prostitutes and alcohol offenders following a major raid.