Heavy security has been deployed to the mosque and residence of the controversial cleric, Abduljabbar Nasiru-Kabara in Kano state.
Recall that the state government had on Wednesday, through the Commissioner of Information, Muhammad Garba, ordered the closure of the cleric’s mosque and house, located at Gwale Local Government in the Kano metropolis.
In the early hours of Thursday, heavily armed security personnel, including operatives of the State Security Services, were sighted at both the mosque and his residence to ensure compliance to the order.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that Mr Kabara, a factional leader Qadiriyya sect in Kano, is famous for controversial religious commentaries, and has been accused of insulting the companions of Holy Prophet Muhammad.
The cleric has been at dagger-drawn with Sunni Muslim clerics in the state for a long time for his hardline stance against Sunni practices and his subscription to Shiite practices.
While reacting to the ban, Mr Abduljabbar described the governor’s action as political, saying that Mr Ganduje was all out to settle a score against him.
“Only that he is taking the wrong decision at the wrong time. So this ban is purely political, it has nothing to do with religion or incitement.
“I have told my followers to prepare their votes ahead of the next election and do the needful. Alhamdulillah for everything, I am fighting scholars, not Government, but at the end, Government took over on their behalf.
“They should at least checked the books I made reference to but without doing so, they have been unfair to me.
“This decision is sheer injustice. And, whosoever wants to understand the situation should look for what the Kano State Commissioner for Education said last night (Wednesday) wherein he explained that the government has deliberately succumbed to the pressure of these scholars who used their political ideologies to alter religious issues to their taste,” he said.
