The Bauchi State Hisbah Board has confiscated 260 crates of alcoholic drinks from hotels and nightclubs as part of its effort to enforce Sharia Islamic code.
The permanent commissioner in charge of Hisbah and Sharia implementation, Aminu Balarabe, made this known while displaying the commodity in Bauchi on Tuesday.
He said 216 crates were confiscated in Misau Local Government Area and 44 in Bauchi Club and some beer parlours located in Dass Park in Bauchi metropolis.
”We will continue to beam our searchlight to unravel perpetrators of such misdemeanours,” he said.
He said the department would soon seek a court order to destroy the items as the subsisting Sharia law which was implemented in 2003 prohibits sales and consumption of alcoholic drinks.
Mr Balarabe, who displayed the confiscated drinks at the premises of the state Sharia commission, said no fewer than six operators of beer parlours were arrested during the patrol and they would soon be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.
”The only places where sales and consumption of alcoholic drinks are allowed are military and police barracks, national parks. We are fully committed to implementing our mandate,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Hisbah department in Bauchi recently arrested some young men in Tafawa Balewa LGA for allegedly organising sex parties and committing other criminal tendencies.
A Hisbah official, Aminu Idris, told NAN the suspects were organising disco parties, locally called Gwaidu, during which they allegedly lured young girls into illicit sexual relationships, adding that at times “the suspects used force to intimidate innocent people”.
The official said the state Hisbah office summoned the parents of the culprits, counselled them and made them sign an undertaking against repeating the offence.
Mr Idris said the Hisbah department would not hesitate to prosecute such culprits.
“As a lawyer, I will do everything possible to ensure that our existing laws are not flagrantly violated,” he said.
He appealed to the state government to hasten the appointment of the state Hisbah Board, as well as provide additional financial and logistics support to the department to enable it to perform optimally.