A joke by a tailor overjoyed by his mastery in sewing a traditional dress proved to be too expensive as it sparked a religious uprising in Kano State, North-West Nigeria, yesterday evening.

The joke, cracked by a non-native whose religion is yet to be ascertained, promptly elicited angry reaction from indigenes of Bichi, a booming town in the outskirts of Kano Metropolis in the Muslim-dominated state. Churches and houses were burnt after “angry Muslim youths took to the streets ... protesting what they described as blasphemous remarks on Prophet Mohammed by a tailor,” reports the US-based Poinblanknews.com.
“Churches, shops and houses owned by non-natives were looted and burnt by the protesters who also blocked roads with born-fires, preventing vehicles plying towards Katsina from movement for several hours,” according to the online newspaper. “Security forces, however, responded to the development after several people were wounded out of stampede.”
Trouble started when a tailor based in Bichi joked with his neighbor, showing him a dress he just sew and describing it in Hausa language as “Annabi Ya Shiga Kasuwa” – meaning “the Prophet has entered the market.” The outraged neighbour immediately raised an alarm and the town was soon on the boil over the perceived blaspheming of Prophet Mohammed.
Kano State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim K. Idris, confirmed the incident but assured that said security agents were equal to the task of restoring peace and order and had already cordoned off the area.
News Express reports that Kano is one of the hotbeds of Islamic fundamentalism in Nigeria and usually boils over any statement or action believed to blaspheme Prophet Mohammed even if such took place outside Nigeria.

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