Kano Hisbah and Uur detractors

By

Dr. Sa'id Ahmad Dukawa

samir2uonline@yahoo.com

 

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.