The Zamfara State Government has vowed to revive and improve the application of Islamic law in the state.
This was disclosed by the State’s Commissioner for Religious Affairs while speaking with journalists in Gusau, the state capital.
The commissioner added that he was already seeking support from relevant stakeholders and authorities to ensure the entrenchment of the Sharia legal system in the state.
“We are advising the citizens of the state to exercise patience with this present administration because it is new,” he was quoted by Daily Post as saying.
He urged Islamic clerics to fear Allah and be truthful in their service to the state government as counsellors.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Malam Bashiru Surajo, had also commended Governor Dauda Lawal for appointing a renowned Islamic scholar like Suleiman Adamu Gummi as the Commissioner of Religious Affairs, to revive the Sharia legal system in the state.
Sharia was first instituted as a main body of civil and criminal law in Nigeria in 1999 when then-Zamfara State governor Ahmad Sani Yerima began the push for the institution of Sharia at the state level of government.
Subsequently, a “declaration of full Sharia law” was made in 12 states Muslim dominated northern Nigeria in that year, and the states created Islamic legal institutions such as the Sharia Commission and Zakat Commission, and hisbah, i.e. “a group expected to promote Islamic virtue, whilst discouraging vice”.
This generated a lot of uproar that claimed many lives in some parts of the country.
One of the few casualties of the Sharia legal system adopted by Zamfara at the time was Lawali Isa, who had his right wrist amputated in 2001 for stealing a bicycle following a Sharia court judgment.
Eight years after he vacated his seat as governor of Zamfara State to become a senator, Yerima was arraigned in a Zamfara High Court by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on allegation of mismanaging the N1 billion loan meant for the repair of Gusau Dam in 2006.
The ICPC filed 19 charges against the ex-governor. Even though he was a proponent of Sharia law, he was not tried by Sharia law.
Incidentally, on Monday, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, Gombe State governor ordered the immediate closure of all nightclubs in the state.
A statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, on Monday, said there had been complaints from the public about the alleged immorality and criminal activities going on in such clubs.
“Governor Yahaya has consequently, ordered the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the ‘Operation Hattara’ to mobilise their personnel to effect the directive and ensure strict compliance,” the statement read.
The government listed the affected clubs as including Jami’a Gidan Wanka located at Mile 3 Yola Road, Gombe, White House Theatre (Babban Gida) located at New Mile 3 Yola Road, Gombe; Gidan Lokaci General Merchant located at Mile 3 Reservoir Road, Gombe and Farin Gida Entertainment II located at Wuro Karal, Kalshingi Road, Gombe.
Others include Gidan Zamani Entertainment New Mile 3, Yola Road, Tumfure, Gombe; Albarka Entertainment located at Wuro Karal, Bypass near Hara Form, Gombe; Gala Houses located at Kuri Town, Lubo village and Kurba village all in the Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area; Tauraren Wash located at Trailer Park, Bauchi Road, Gombe and Gala House located at Bajoga Town in the Funakaye Local Government Area of the state.
