The Chief Imam of Maiduguri International Airport, Muhammad Ibrahim Adam, has commended the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, for the recent ban on the sale of alcohol, while urging the state to consider establishing Hisbah to enforce the ban.

In a statement released on Sunday, the State Directorate of Information, Ministry of Information and Internal Security, said the cleric described the decision as timely and commendable in preserving the spiritual and moral fabric of society.

“The Imam called on the government to consider the establishment of Hisbah, a moral enforcement body in the state, to help enforce Islamic principles and curb immoral practices,” the statement read.

It was stated that the Imam concluded with prayers for continued peace, unity, and development in Borno State and across Nigeria.

“The consumption of alcohol and other intoxicants is an act prohibited by all religions, as they open doors to all sorts of immoral and criminal behaviours in society,” it added.

PUNCH Online had reported that Zulum made the alcohol ban announcement on Tuesday at the inauguration of a reconstituted committee on “revocation of illegal hotels, brothels, shanties, and criminal hideouts and curbing the menace of antisocial vices” at the council chambers of the Government House in Maiduguri, the state capital.

The governor, during the meeting, said the ban on the sale and consumption of liquor and alcoholic content stems from the rising cases of clashes among rival groups, cultism, prostitution, drug abuse, thuggery, and theft, which have led to the loss of lives and valuables.