Bauchi state Shari’ah Commission has confiscated thousands of whot cards known as Karta or Chacha in the local Hausa Language from a popular joint in the state capital.
In an operation following intelligence report and complaints from concerned citizens, the commission made the seizure at the premises of the Nigerian Railway Corporation’s headquarters in Bauchi.
Hisbah Commander in the commission Ibrahim Musa Yisin who led the operation said over two hundred people converge on the joint daily including top and middle level federal and state governments workers.
“They stationed themselves within the premises of the Nigerian Railway Corporation in groups where they do the Karta every evening”, says Yisin.
playing Whot game or Karta is prohibited under sections 95 and 392 of the state Shari’ah legal system and therefore punishable by fine or imprisonment.
According to him, the commission had in addition to enlightenment on the mainstream media, also pasted posters in public places detailing the offences prohibited under the Shari’ah legal system- which the state has been implementing since 2001.
No arrest was effected
Yisin however said, the commission’s operatives did not arrest any of the over two hundred participants, as the operation was what he described as “warning” to the perpetrators.
“The operation was merely a kind of warning under the Shari’ah legal system in which we are required to preach and admonish people commiting such minor offneces”.
The commander however expressed dismay on how some of the participants threatened his personnel by vowing “to react if they go back to the same spot on an operation” – an action he said amounts to taking laws into hand and obstructing staff on duty.
Both of these actions according to him are punishable under the state’s laws.
