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Download logoChild marriage remains prevalent in Nigeria because the federal and state governments have not adequately enforced laws to prevent it, Human
9 Feb 2021
Police arrested a barber in Nigeria’s majority-Muslim Kano state for allegedly cutting his clients’ hair in styles deemed offensive to the Islamic faith, Nigeria’s
Punch newspaper reported Monday.
Local senator Abba Moro demanded the barber’s release from police detention on Sunday, explaining that he was arrested on January 15 and again on January 27 “by a group of Muslims over claims that the hairstyle he designed on two of his customers was insulting to Islam and the Holy [Islamic] Prophet Mohammed.”
The barber, named Elijah Ode, is “currently being tried in Gyadi-Gyadi Magistrate’s Court sitting in Kano State,” according to Moro. The senator said Ode has “been denied bail” despite intervention on his behalf by two Nigerian governors from his native Benue state and Kano state, where his business is based. Moro argued the barber’s arrest and continued detention is unconstitutional.