Nigeria, Jan. 30 -- In Kano State, the Hisbah Board (Hisbah) operates with all the power and authority of a religious police, which it is. Backed by the state government and drawing what it considers its extensive moral and spiritual authority from the Quran and Sharia Law, the body has been a force to reckon within the state for many years now.

From seizing and destroying alcoholic drinks to prevent the consumption of alcohol in the state, to enforcing public decency by enforcing modesty among residents by sometimes shaving young boys, to banning the public display of mannequins by cloth sellers, the morality police has been at the center of maintaining public decency in Kano State for many years now. Its efforts have sometimes seen it ...