The Islamic police in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Kano, alias Hisbah, arrested 11 Muslims on Tuesday who were seen eating in public despite the ongoing Ramadan fast.
Kano, with its majority Muslim population, operates under Sharia law alongside the country’s secular legislation.
Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, which began on March 11 to end on April 9.
Hisbah spokesperson Lawal Fagge reported the arrests on Wednesday.
He said ten men were arrested near busy markets while a female groundnut seller was caught eating from her wares. The arrests followed tips from onlookers.
“We got 11 persons on Tuesday including a lady selling groundnuts who was seen eating from her wares and some persons alerted us,” Fagge told the BBC.
“The other ten were men and were arrested across the city especially close to markets where a lot of activities happen.”
Hisbah carries out raids on eateries and markets every year during Ramadan to enforce compliance with the fast.
The detainees were however freed after they promised not intentionally to miss any fasts in the future.
“For some of them,” Fagge said, “we had to involve their relatives or guardians to have their family monitor them.”
Hisbah’s jurisdiction primarily concerns Muslims, and non-Muslims are not arrested for violating the fast.
But Fagge noted that non-Muslims could be arrested if found cooking food intended for sale to fasting Muslims.
“We don’t arrest non-Muslims because this doesn’t concern them, but the only time they could be guilty of a crime is when we find out they cook food to sell to Muslims that are supposed to be fasting,” he explained.
