Kano State Government has declared the activities of a group known as Independent Hisbah Fisabilillahi illegal, warning that no parallel policing structure will be allowed in the state.
Gatekeepers News reports that Governor Abba Yusuf approved the executive order banning the group on December 8 after the government uncovered moves by its promoters to recruit and train youths without legal backing, contrary to the Kano State Hisbah Board Law.
Addressing journalists on Friday, the commissioner for information and internal affairs, Ibrahim Waiya, said the Kano State Hisbah Board remains the only body legally empowered to carry out Hisbah duties.
Waiya said, “The emergence of a parallel group amounts to creating an unauthorised enforcement structure capable of undermining public peace and the statutory mandate of the Board.”
He explained that the order renders all actions of the group unlawful, illegal and void, adding that anyone found using Hisbah uniforms, symbols, or authority illegally would face punishment.
Waiya said Governor Yusuf has instructed the police, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and other security agencies to probe those behind the group and take steps to prevent any breakdown of law and order.
He cautioned residents against supporting or associating with the banned organisation and urged those already recruited to withdraw and report to security agencies, Hisbah offices, or local government authorities.
The order also provides penalties for offences such as unlawful assembly, impersonation, and formation of unauthorised security groups, and has taken immediate effect, with plans for official gazetting.
Earlier, on November 28, the Kano government called for the arrest of Abdullahi Ganduje over comments it described as inflammatory and capable of weakening the state’s security efforts.
Members of the state executive council discussed remarks credited to Ganduje on Kano’s vulnerability to banditry and an alleged plan to recruit 12,000 persons into a new religious security outfit known as Khairul Nas.
Waiya said, “The council deliberated extensively over the recent inflammatory statements made by a former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the deputy senate president Barau Jibrin, who alleged that the state is vulnerable to banditry and further announced plans to recruit 12,000 individuals under a proposed religious police outfit named Khairul Nas.”
A civil society group, the International Peace and Secure Society, also raised concerns over reports of attempts to establish a Hisbah-style organisation outside government control, describing the claims linking Ganduje to the move as “troubling and unacceptable”.
Ganduje, however, dismissed the call for his arrest, insisting he has never been linked to violence or any action that threatens peace in Kano.
He said the position of the state government showed desperation and incompetence, adding that the accusation amounted to an abdication of responsibility by a leader who has failed to secure the lives and property of citizens.
