Nigeria TikTok stars investigated by morality police

The singers - who are popular with young people in northern Nigeria particularly on TikTok - have not yet commented publicly on the allegations.

In Summary

• The singers - who are popular with young people in northern Nigeria particularly on TikTok - have not yet commented publicly on the allegations.

• A number of artists have been jailed in the past in the region for promoting what the authorities called ‘’immorality’’.

The social media app is popular in Nigeria
The social media app is popular in Nigeria
Image: GETTY IMAGES

An Islamic Court in the northern Nigerian state of Kano has ordered 10 singers popular on the TikTok social media platform to be investigated for allegedly corrupting public morality.

A spokesperson for the judiciary in Kano state, Baba Jibo Ibrahim, told the BBC the order to investigate the singers followed a complaint by a group of lawyers accusing them of using obscene language in their songs.

The authorities say if police investigations find sufficient evidence, the musicians would be prosecuted.

The singers - who are popular with young people in northern Nigeria particularly on TikTok - have not yet commented publicly on the allegations.

Some of them are also actors in the booming Hausa-language movie industry known as Kannywood.

Kano is among around a dozen states in northern Nigeria where Sharia, or Islamic law, is practiced along with the country’s secular laws.

A number of artists have been jailed in the past in the region for promoting what the authorities called ‘’immorality’’.

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