Nigeria Islamic police destroy nearly 4 mn beers
India Today
Sharia police called Hisbah often destroy alcohol and confiscated drugs, but the huge beer haul was one of the largest in a recently intensified crackdown.
Religious police in northern Nigeria's city of Kano have destroyed nearly four milllion bottles of beer, on grounds that sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited in the predominantly Muslim region.
Sharia police called Hisbah often destroy alcohol and confiscated drugs, but the huge beer haul was one of the largest in a recently intensified crackdown.
Hundreds of Hisbah offloaded 3,873,163 bottles of mostly beer and some assorted alcoholic drinks on Wednesday in an open space in Tudun Kalebawa village.
Bulldozers then rolled over the bottles to cries of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) from the crowd, which included senior Hisbah and government officials.
The Hisbah set fire to the crushed remains and the blaze continued throughout the night, according to residents of Tudun Kalebawa.
"Kano is a sharia state and the sale, consumption and possession of alcoholic substances are prohibited in the state," Haruna Ibn Sina, the head of Hisbah, said at the ceremony.
"This is a demonstration that we are winning the war against drug abuse and all forms of intoxicants in Kano," he declared.
