Hoteliers vow to maintain alcohol sales

Hotel and bar owners in the northern city of Kano have threatened to fight back against a state-backed vigilante group, Hisbah, that has vowed to enforce a ban on the production, ownership and sale of alcohol, AFP reported.

“We will take to self-defence against further assault from the Hisbah,” George Ashiokhanele, spokesman for the hoteliers, told reporters in Kano.
AFP reported on Wednesday that Hisbah members destroyed at least 1,000 cartons of beer in Kano at the weekend, prompting Ashiokhanele to describe the attack as “an act of religious terrorism”. However, Hisbah leader Mohammed Ghali renewed his group’s determination to destroy all alcohol in the area because the state government seemed unable to enforce its own bans.

Meanwhile, Muslim leaders in the north have started talks with governors of Nigeria’s Sharia states on ways to implement Islamic law without infringing on the rights of non-Muslims. The leaders, members of Jama’atu Nasir Islam - described by ‘The Guardian’ as the leading Islamic umbrella in the north - decided to meet because non-Muslims had been complaining of constant harassment.