Sharia police in Muslim-majority northern Nigeria change attitude towards influencers

TikToker Murja Kunya once clashed with Islamic law police in Kano, a city in northwestern Nigeria. There, “hisbah” forces enforce Islamic law alongside customary law.

Earlier this year, the bureau detained Cunha and other influencers for racy media posts and parodies that the bureau deemed obscene.

But now the morality police are trying a softer approach to cracking down on online celebrities like 24-year-old Kunya, who they consider to be a moral risk in Muslim-majority northern Nigeria.

The battle with influencers is just one area where northern Nigeria’s conservative religious sensibilities are being tested by new trends.

Hisbah executive director Abba Sufi told AFP earlier this month that Hisbah had invited Kuniya and dozens of influencers to a meeting to “raise awareness about the negative effects of immoral content.”

Kunya, who has 1 million followers on Tiktok, attended the rally wearing a hijab scarf, commonly worn by women in the north.

This was in sharp contrast to the not-so-subtle video, which was full of obscene content, which she posted drew the ire of her Hisbah.

“The meeting with Murja Kunya and other TikTokers is a change in Hisbah’s strategy in dealing with immoral online content,” Sufi said.

“It is better to show sympathy and concern for those who want to reform, rather than denigrating and condemning them.”

Kuniya declined to speak to AFP about the Hisbah talks. Other influencers also did not comment.

But on Sunday, Kuniya launched a fierce Tiktok attack against Hisbah.

“Why resort to preaching when you don’t know what to do? You should stop wasting your saliva,” she said. “I’m not interested in your preaching.”

– Carrot and stick –

Hisbah supporters dismiss criticism that targeting influencers is infringing on freedom of expression. The agency insists it is simply carrying out its mission to protect society.

Abdalla Uba Adamu, a professor of anthropology and popular culture at Bayero University in Kano, said a carrot-and-stick approach was not enough for the Hisbah to rein in influencers.

“The dialogue approach is very good,” he said. “You can use sticks, you can use carrots, but you can never prevent people from doing what they want to do to survive, because they depend on this to survive.”

For influencers, the meeting was likely seen as part of their online theatrics and another way to gain more followers, he said. And why didn’t most people comment?

“What do you want to tell them? They were invited by Islamic authorities and they didn’t like it?”

Source: guardian.ng