The Kano State Government has directed Hisbah personnels to perform routine checks in market areas, parking lots, and abandoned buildings.
The administration stated that the decision was made to address the rising number of rape cases committed by some elements in such areas of the state.
Aishatu Lawal, the state’s Commissioner for Women Affairs, Children, and the Disabled, made the charge on Friday during a training for Hisbah officials from the Northwest Zone on gender-based violence and girl child protection in Kano.
Dr Sa’adatu Bala, representing the ministry, said the demand was required in light of the worrying rise of rape cases, particularly in such public settings.
According to her, Hisbah officers would patrol these areas on a regular basis to check on repeated occurrences of young boys and girls being led into corners to do immoral activities on them.
The commissioner expressed hope that the course would provide participants with the opportunity to learn new surveillance skills that would assist them in preventing child sexual abuse.
“By working together, we can develop comprehensive strategies that would address the causes of gender-based violence and child abuse in our states,” she said.
She, however, stressed the need for various communities to give Hisba personnel the necessary support and cooperation by giving them the necessary information so as to achieve the desired objective.
“There’s a need for communities to be more vigilant and always report suspicious movements to Hisbah for prompt action.
“It’s my belief that this workshop will enhance their performance towards curtailing incidences of gender-based Based Violence in our states,” she added.
The commissioner commended Development Research and Projects Center, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria and AL-NAS for initiating the capacity building workshop for Hisbah officials.
Also in his address, the convener, Alhaji Ubale Rano said the workshop was aimed at assessing the achievements recorded on the strategies adopted towards addressing the gender-based violence and child abuse.
“To find out why the increase in the menace, we felt it duty bound to involve various stakeholders including the Hisba officials,” Rano said.
Earlier in his remarks, Sheik Aminu Daurawa, Commandant General of the Kano State Hisbah Board, praised the event organizers for choosing Kano to hold the workshop.
Hisbah officials and others came from Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Jigawa states.
Platinum Times reports that the Kano State Hisbah Corps is a religious police agency in Kano State, Nigeria, charged for enforcing Shari’a law on Muslims only in Kano State and other regions of northern Nigeria.