THE Kano State
Hisbah Board has uncovered nefarious plans by some disgruntled, nay
undesirable elements who are bent to misinform, misguide and
discredit the good reputation of the board. We are equally aware of
a sustained campaign of calumny by this cabal of people who are not
comfortable with the statutory function of the Hisbah operatives in
enforcing Shari’a legal code in the state. Now that the devil’s
advocates have shifted their gear to the next level, thereby using
the mass media as a plantform to continue with their smear campaign,
with intent to malign the board and tarnish its image in the
estimation of the public, we deem it necessary as well as a point
of duty to tell our own part of the story, first as a reply to our
dectractors and secondly, to disabuse the minds of those who might
have had a wrong impression or misconception as being spread by the
mischief makers on the issue.
In its March 8, 2009 edition (Vol. 2 No. 196), a Lagos-based
newspaper, SUNDAY INDEPENDENT carried a news report, captioned:
“Call Hisbah to order, NBA Tells Shekarau,” and I quote the
opening-lead paragraph: “As the activities of the Shari’a
enforcement agency in Kano (Hisbah), continues to generate anxiety
and concern, especially within the Kano state judiciary, the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has sent a special appeal to the
governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, to call the Shari’a police to
order”.
The newspaper’s Kano correspondent, one Augustine Madu-West
reported, albeit maliciously, that operatives of the agency
forcefully entered the magistrate court premises at Noman’sland and
carted away exhibit of a trailer load of alcoholic drinks in
violation of an order of the court that released the items to the
owners. This purport action, the reporter went on, angered the Kano
branch of the NBA, hence the call for the governor to call Hisbah
to order.
Let me declare without the fear of contradiction that the said
SUNDAY INDEPENDENTreport, baseless as it was the figment of the
reporter’s imagination, was part of the subtle but sustained
campaign specifically designed to subject the board to public
ridicule. Secondly, the concocted story has once again exhibited the
sheer irresponsibility of some undisirable elements within the media
fraternity who are bent and can go to any length in dragging the
name of the noble profession of journalism into the mud through
false publications.
We at the Kano state Hisbah board view the malicious report as a
sheer irresponsibility and a flagrant violation of the code and
ethics of the journalism creed. One would have assume that in the
spirit of fairness and balance the report should have reflected our
own side of the story thereby giving the general public the
opportunity to determine the veracity or otherwise of the news
report under reference. This is only one out of the many subterfuges
employed by our detractors even as they tried and are still trying
to sensationalize the activities of the Hisbah board in the state
with the sole intent to provoke the reading public.
For the record, let the general public be informed that neither the
state Hisbah Board nor any of its representative did, in fact, went
into the magistrate court premises and “forcefully carted away
alcoholic drinks”, as purportedly reported by the questionable
correspondent. As law-abiding citizens and representatives of a
legally constituted agency it is unimaginable to accuse us of taking
laws into our hands in disobedience of the said court order.
What happened was that the presiding judge of a magistrate court
gave an order, under section 159 of the CPC that, a vehicle arrested
by operatives on the Federal Highway enroute to Maiduguri should be
escorted out of Kano on its way to Maiduguri. The court order was
given on Friday, February 20, 2009 and we did, in fact, obeyed the
order by releasing the vehicle for the onward journey to its claimed
destination.
However, soon after the release of the said vehicle, the trailer
load of alcoholic drinks was allowed to proceed on its journey, in
obedience of the court order, the same vehicle was rearrested by
some Hisbah operatives, this time around within a road that falls
under the jurisdiction of the state. As a Shari’a compliant state,
the Kano state government prohibits the haulage/transportation,
selling and consumption of alcoholic drinks and any other forms of
intoxicants within the confines of the state.
Moreover, the second batch of Hisbah operatives who rearrested the
exhibit-ladden vehicle on a state road did so in compliance with the
Islamic Shari’a law provision, which prohibits the haulage of
alcoholic drinks within the state’s boundary. It occurred to them
that here is a vehicle carrying a large consignment of alcoholic
drinks in violation of the Shari’a laws. They eventually rearrested
the vehicle, including their fellow colleagues Hisbah personel who
were escorting the trailer and brought them to the board’s
headquarters.
I wish to emphasize here, that our Hisbah operatives have performed
their legitimate duty and on our part at the management level we are
currently preparing fresh charges against the defendants and as soon
as we are through we shall arraign them before a court of law for
prosecution.
That notwithstanding, however, we have thoroughly examined the case
and discovered that threre were certain anomalies in the earlier
judgement as passed by the magistrate court under reference.
First of all, the honourable magistrate did not aquit the
defendants; he only ordered that the vehicle should be allowed to
proceed on its journey. He didn’t hear the case on merit so it was
not a ruling. That means nothing prevents one from rearesting the
contraband consignment pending when fresh charges will be filed
against the defendants.
Secondly, the respectable magistrate did not provide the 30 days
appeal gestation period in his order as is the norm in any legal
procedure. Thirdly, the controversial vehicle, unlike in the first
instance where it was arrested on a federal highway, was rearrested,
this time around, driving on a road that falls under the
jurisdiction of the state and fourthly, we do not see anything wrong
in rearresting an accused person on a fresh count charge since this
has been the practice rather than exception within the judicial
circles.
In reference to mischievous report as published by the Sunday
Independent, newspaper, we are certain that the medium’s
correspondent was misguided by a sinister motive as he filed his
one-sided report without minding to cross-check his information
before going to press. Had he contacted the state Hisbah board for
confirmation, for instance, the reporter would have been informed,
authoritatively, that neither the management nor any of its
representative went to the said court premises and forcefully carted
away the alcoholic drinks as the purported news report misinformed
the reading public.
I am obligued to restate here, for the record, that the state HIsbah
Board is legally established by the Kano state government with the
statutory mandate to promote or encourage good deed and prohibit
evil deed in the state. And this the agency has been doing right
from inception in conformity with laid down Shari’a injunctions as
practiced in the state. The fact that the laws of the land made it a
punishable offence to either sell, distribute, transport and consume
alcoholic drinks and or any other intoxicant within the state makes
it mandatory for the Hisbah, operatives to ensure compliance and no
amount of threat, intimidation or blackmail can deter us from
performing our statutory obligation.
With regard to the case under reference, the Hisbah board has
already filed an appeal to the magistrate court’s judgement. We also
intend to file a fresh charge against the defendants in accordance
with laid-down legal procedures.
On the alleged indictment of the Hisbah board by the Kano state
branch of the NBA, which purportedly condemn the “disobedience of
court order “by the operatives of the agency, we doubt much as to
the veracity of that report. As respectable members of the bench it
is unimaginable that the lawyers would make such blanket
condemnation of the Hisbah without recourse to verification from
authoritative source. As I am writing this piece, however,
information coming in indicated that the NBA has released a press
statement Distancing itself from the SUNDAY INDEPENT report.
Nevertheless, we a re still going to write them officially to
ascertain the truthfulness or otherwise of the purport indictment as
the newspaper’s correspondent quoted its secretary.
In conclusion, the state Hisbah board wishes to express its
disappointment over the irresponsible attitude of some few ‘bad
eggs’ among the journalists whose art in trade is fabrication of
false stories thereby misinforming and even provoking the reading
public. For centuries the noble profession of journalism has enjoyed
popular support and its mass appeal stems from the fact that
journalists are seen and regarded as the mouthpiece for the masses.
It therefore became necessary to call on the various media organs,
including the National Press council; the Newspapers Proprietors
Association of Nigeria (NPAN); the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE)
and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to come to the rescue of
the noble profession by calling such erring journalists to order.
Considering the security implications of such provocative
publications, the concerned stakeholders in mass media should better
be advised to take disciplinary action for such excesses are in
total disregard to the code and ethics of the profession.
Let me end this piece by calling on the good people of Kano state,
and by this I mean the general public without discrimination; they
should continue to be responsible, law-abiding citizens and to
continue to give us the necessary support in carrying out our
statutory functions. Most of the things we succeeded in doing was as
a result of the overwhelming support and goodwill from members of
the public. In fact, without the cooperation of the people we could
not have achieved much in our undertaking. People willingly come to
us and supply us with vital intelligence information that has helped
us a lot. We appreciate this support and urge people never to relent
in supporting our activities. Everybody is a stakeholder in the
collective efforts for a better society and a s such, all hands must
be on deck to ensure that we rid our community of moral bankruptcy
while safe guarding our cultural norms and Islamic values.
Dr. Said Ahmad Dukawa is the Director-General, Kano state Hisbah
Board, No. 42A, Sharada GRA. PMB 3024, Kano.