Nigeria Destroys 240,000 Bottles Of Beer For Being Against Islamic Law
Nigeria destroyed nearly a quarter million bottles of beer in a strike against behavior that violates strict Sharia Islamic law.
The crackdown happened in the city of Kano, where police enforcing Islamic law destroyed close to 240,000 bottles of beer. The beer had been taken from trucks entering the city in the past few weeks.
As a bulldozer smashed the bottles, shouts of “Allahu Ahkbar” (God is great) went up among supporters.
It wasn’t just bottles of beer that Nigeria destroyed. More than 8,000 liters of a local alcoholic drink known as “burukutu” was also destroyed along with 320,000 cigarettes.
Aminu Daurawa, the chief in Kano, said at the ceremony in Nigeria destroying bottles of beer that he had “the ardent hope this will bring an end to the consumption of such prohibited substances”.
Nigeria has been the site of clashes between the largely Muslim south and predominantly Christian north. Even within the Muslim portion of the country, groups seeking to drive out Western influences have created a greater conflict.
Earlier this year, a group known as Boko Haram carried out a series of attacks against schools they believed were promoting Western values. The sect, whose name means “Western Education is Forbidden,” has killed large numbers of children in targeted attacks. The al-Qaeda linked group has also set fire to schools.
Daurawa said he hopes the Nigeria bottle destroying ceremony will help “restore the tarnished image of Kano,” said Daurawa.
Nigeria sharia police smash 240,000 bottles of beer via @YahooNews pic.twitter.com/Ai0ztlbJ9Y
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) November 27, 2013
Daurawa added that even the city’s Christian minority will be denied beer.
“We hereby send warning to unrepentant offenders that Hisbah personnel will soon embark on an operation into every nook and corner of (Kano) state to put an end to the sale and consumption of alcohol and all other intoxicants,” Daurawa said.
The ceremony in Nigeria destroying bottles of beer has been coupled with a crackdown on drug users, prostitution, and homosexuality.
