The Kano State Hisbah Board has arrested seven suspected cross-dressers throughout a late-night raid on a well-liked social joint within the metropolis centre.
The suspects had been apprehended following an intelligence-led operation indicating alleged illicit actions on the institution positioned alongside Zoo Highway, Kano.
Deputy Commander Common of the Hisbah Board, Sheikh Mujahid Aminudeen Abubakar, who confirmed the arrests, stated all of the suspects are youngsters beneath the age of 23. He added that the joint would quickly be sealed off.
Sheikh Mujahid disclosed that preliminary investigations confirmed the suspects got here from Kogi, Bauchi and Kano states to interact in what the board described as immoral acts.
He additional revealed that through the operation, Hisbah operatives additionally arrested a younger man and a girl discovered collectively inside a tricycle, whereas one other lady reported lacking was traced to Sokoto and reunited along with her mother and father.
In keeping with him, the suspects and operators of the ability can be handed over to related authorities for additional motion.
He reiterated Hisbah’s dedication to tackling social vices within the state and urged residents to report suspicious actions to the board or different acceptable authorities.
The board not too long ago carried out an analogous operation within the Gaida space of Kumbotso Native Authorities Space, the place six suspected cross-dressers had been arrested following complaints from residents.
In that incident, the suspects reportedly confessed and pleaded for leniency. Nevertheless, whereas the board directed that acceptable motion be taken after the investigation, it has remained silent on whether or not the sooner suspects have been prosecuted or discovered responsible.
In October, Hisbah police arrested 25 younger individuals accused of organising a homosexual wedding ceremony in socially conservative northern Nigeria, authorities stated Sunday.
The sharia police, referred to as the Hisbah, stormed an occasion centre in Kano, the most important metropolis within the predominantly Muslim area, the place the alleged wedding ceremony was anticipated to happen, appearing on a tip-off from residents, officers stated.
Eighteen males and 7 girls, all of their early 20s, together with the pair believed to be getting married, had been taken into custody, stated Mujaheed Abubakar, deputy head of the Hisbah.
He instructed reporters that one man was “planning to tie the knot with one other younger man on the scene of the unlawful meeting”, and that an investigation looking for prosecutions could be carried out.
Sharia, the Islamic legislation code, primarily based on the teachings of the Koran, runs parallel to state and federal justice programs in 12 northern Nigerian states.
Beneath the native interpretation of it homosexuality is punishable by demise, though the sentence has by no means been enforced.
