Islamic police in Nigeria’s northern state of Kano have arrested at least 11 Muslims who were found eating when they should be fasting.
The Islamic law enforcers, widely known as ‘Hisbah’, carry out annual searches in eateries and markets every year during Ramadan to ensure compliance of the fast-period.
The ten men and one woman arrested were detained for hours but later released after swearing an oath that they would not purposely miss a fast again.
“We arrested 10 men and 1 lady who was selling groundnuts and was found eating from her stock. The public alerted us and we went for them,” a Hisbah spokesman has said.
“The other 10 were men and were arrested across the city especially close to markets where they were discovered hiding in small eateries. The search operations will continue until the end of Ramadan,” he adds.
This year, Ramadan is expected to last 30 days, with fasting which started Monday, is predicted to end on 9 April.
