The Islamic police in the northern state of Kano are deploying thousands of officers to arrest anyone wearing the “indecent dress” that is fashionable among young men driving motorized rickshaw taxis, including pants cut off just below the knee and sleeveless T-shirts, a representative of an Islamic agency said Monday. The police also have orders to arrest any driver carrying men and women together in the three-wheeled taxis, said Yusuf Yola, a spokesman for the Hisbah board, which is responsible for ensuring compliance with Shariah laws in Kano. Mr. Yola said Christians also must comply.
Nine of Nigeria’s 37 states have introduced a strict version of Islamic law since 2000. But the law is interpreted differently and enforced more rigidly in some states. Three other states introduced Shariah law, but only for Muslims who want to use it as an alternative to Western-style family law. The rest of the country is under secular law. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, with more than 160 million people, almost equally divided between Muslims and Christians.
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