The Kano State Hisbah Board says it has arrested no fewer than 52 commercial tricycle operators, popularly known as Yan Adaidaita Sahu, over alleged immoral haircuts, selling illegal drugs and substances and mixing with females in their tricycles.
The tricycle riders were apprehended by operatives of the Hisbah command in different parts of the Kano metropolis.
The Hisbah command had recently launched an exercise tagged Operation Kau da Badala (Operation Fight against Immorality) which it said would sanitise Kano State from immoral activities such as prostitution, drug abuse, and the sale and consumption of alcohol, among others.
The Deputy Commander-General of Hisbah, Sheikh Mujahid Aminuddeen, who addressed the 52 tricycle riders on Friday, said, “We want to use this opportunity to appeal to you to avoid such acts and avoid acts capable of tarnishing the image of our religion and culture of the Kano people.”
He added that the alleged offences of the tricyclists also included riding around wearing only shorts, using objectionable posters on their vehicles, mixing unrelated men and women, selling illegal drugs, and conveying women to places where they engage in immoral acts.
avoid acts capable of tarnishing the image of our religion and culture of the Kano people, hisbah warns keke riders
“As Muslims, we will not accept this behaviour and activities of the tricycle riders. That is why we brought you here to admonish you on the negative implications of these acts on our religion and culture as people of Kano.”
It was gathered that the tricycle riders were taken to the board’s headquarters, where they were admonished by officials and later released.
It may be recalled that late December 2019, the Kano State Government had suspended the implementation of the directive banning persons of opposite sex from riding in the same commercial tricycles. The edict was to have taken effect across the state from January 2020.
the keke operators spot immoral haircuts, sell illegal drugs and substances and mix with females in their tricycles -hisbah
Lawan Fagge, who was the spokesperson of the agency responsible for implementing the law Kano Hisbah Board, told Premium Times that the decision to suspend the decision at the time was taken after consultation with the leadership of commercial tricycle operators “who pleaded for an extension of the implementation date.”
“The law has been suspended till further notice. The decision was taken after consultation with leadership of commercial tricycle operators who pleaded for extending the implementation date,” Mr Fagge said in 2019.
Then Commander General of Hisbah Board, Harun Ibn-Sina, had threatened that any tricyclist found conveying opposite sexes in the same tricycle would be punished with 10 lashes or banned for six months.
The defaulters also had an option of N5,000 fine, depending on the ‘gravity’ of the offence.
He, however, said the law was not applicable to couples, underage children and family members.
Commercial tricycles, popularly known as ‘A daidaita sahu‘ in Kano, were introduced by a former governor of Kano, Ibrahim Shekarau, as a means of transportation for women only.
This was after Mr Shekarau’s government had banned commercial motorcyclists from conveying women.
Since Mr Shekarau’s exit as governor, however, tricycles had been allowed to convey people of both sexes.
