The Kano State Hisbah Board has intercepted two truckloads of over 24,000 bottles of alcoholic beverages and three others were arrested in connection with the detained trucks on Wednesday.
The Shari’a compliance board disclosed that the suspected owner of the prohibited beverages narrowly escaped arrest even as he attempted to bribe its personnel.
Briefing journalists on the development on Wednesday, Acting Assistant Commander General, Intelligent Crimes Dispatch, Malam Fu’ad Dorayi said the board will not relent in the war against the violator of public orders in the state.
According to Dorayi, “The culprits were four including the driver of the heavy truck containing over 24,000 bottles of assorted beers.
“Others were the owner of the goods and two others. The owner of the goods fled after attempting to bribe us but was not successful. So he pretended he wanted to pick something and in the process, he fled.
“At a point, the driver complained that one thing or the other was faulty with the vehicle, but we finally succeeded in apprehending him and 2 others.”
Dorayi urged the residents to always report any vehicles carrying suspected products to the Hisbah Board, particularly, along Kano/Zaria Road, Kano/Dayi Malumfashi Road, Kano/Katsina Road, Kano/Maiduguri Road and Kano/Hadejia Road among others.
While conducting officers round the confiscated drinks at the Hisbah headquarters, the Director General of the Board, Abba Sa’id Sufi the assorted beer vowed to remain focused in the fight against smuggling of beers into the state capital through the neighboring states.
He maintained that Hisbah Corps in the state have been up and doing to enforce the zero-tolerance smuggling of beer and intoxicated substances into Kano state along its neighboring states’ borders.
The DG Hisbah Board however commended the effort of his Corps in the state for their collaborative effort with the other stakeholders in the fight against smuggling of beer into the state.
In 2020, Hisbah impounded and destroyed over one million bottles of alcoholic beverages, said to have worth over N200 million while being smuggled into the city.
Similar destruction of large consignment of confiscated alcohol drinks of different brands worth N100 million were also carried out in February, 2022, to discourage those smuggling the drinks into Kano knowing the risk of the economic loss involved.
Although, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended has not forbid sales and consumption of alcohol, Kano state government through the legislative act under the state Penal code 2004 prohibits the sale and distribution of all alcoholic substances in the state.
