Security stepped up in Kano

Federal and state officials have place a heavy security net over the northern state of Kano to prevent any breakdown of law and order prior to the introduction of Sharia law on Wednesday, news organisations reported.

Soldiers and anti-riot police drafted from the neighbouring states of Katsina, Sokoto and Borno are manning strategic locations in Kano State to prevent a recurrence of the violence that took place in Kaduna, ‘The Post Express’ reported on Tuesday. Hundreds of people were killed or injured in February when Kaduna’s Christians demonstrated against the proposed introduction of Islamic Sharia law.

The Kano State government spokesman, Sani Mohammed, said on Monday that the ceremony being planned to introduce Sharia in Kano would be without incident.

“All the necessary security measures are being taken so that everything passes off peacefully,” he said, according to PANA.

A major source of tension, PANA added, was the disagreement between the state government and Islamic teachers, known as Ulamas, over the scope of Sharia which the minority Christians and non-indigenes in the state oppose. The state government has said that the law would not extend to Sabon Gari, an area of Kano city largely occupied by Christians and non-indigenes, but the Ulamas insist that no area would be exempt.

The Chairman of the Council of Ulama in Kano, Sheikh Ibrahim Kabo, told reporters that Sharia would not come into effect immediately it is declared law because the state lacks judges and courts for its application.