The Kano State Government has issued an executive order proscribing a group operating under the name Independent Hisbah Fisabilillahi, declaring its activities as unlawful and illegal.
The order, signed by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf on December 8, ordered the crackdown on the recruitment, training activities and promoters of the group.
The Kano State Hisbah Board is the officially recognized institution responsible for enforcing the state’s Sharia legal system, primarily focused on enforcing what is right and forbidding what is wrong. The Hisbah Corps operates under a specific state law structured to include government officials and security representatives.
The Independent Hisbah Fisabilillahi group, involved in the recruitment, training, and mobilisation of youths, was seen by the state government to be an attempt to establish an unauthorized parallel enforcement structure.
Commissioner of Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya, stated that the creation of a parallel Hisbah is a threat to public peace, which undermines the statutory mandate of the legitimate Board;
The Hisbah Board remains the only legally recognised institution empowered to coordinate Hisbah-related duties in the state. The concern is that an unauthorized force could lead to a breakdown of law and order and usurp the mandated powers of the official security and moral police
Dawn Herald gathered that the proscribed group was associated with the political faction of former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, though the committee overseeing the group had denied it was a state-backed security outfit.
The promoters of the Independent Hisbah had previously stated they would work in collaboration with security agencies and hand over offenders to the appropriate authorities.
Individuals already recruited into the proscribed group have been advised by the state government to disengage and report to security formations or Hisbah offices with immediate effect.
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