By Ishola Adeleke, YeyeNews.com, November 19, 2021
Some operatives of Hisbah police were seen drunk and behaving badly after inhaling alcohol vapor as truck conveying crates of beer fell near their office in Kano with contents spilled. Eyewitnesses told YeyeNews.com reporters that the officials of Hisbah who came to impound the fallen truck where observed sniffing and inhaling the vapor of the spilled beer.
“Due to the intense heat from the sun, the spilled beer started evaporating within minutes after the truck fell. Hisbah operatives who came to arrest the driver stood directly over the fumes inhaling them to the astonishment of observers. Many of the operatives soon started exhibiting symptoms of drunkenness”.
A source familiar with the workings of the Hisbah corps confirmed to YeyeNews.com that many of the operatives often take advantage of destroying bottles of alcoholic drinks to get a “quick high” through inhaling the vapor. “Since drinking the alcohol directly will be easily noticed, these Hisbah guys just get the high indirectly by inhaling. When they destroy large quantities of beer, the entire atmosphere around the location becomes saturated with the vapor especially in very sunny days. Many of them stay very close to the event center so that they can get as much vapor into their system as possible. In this way they get high without the accompanying smell of the liquor and there will be no penalty for their drunkenness”, the source said.
A professor and a medical expert Dr. Carolina Obinna who spoke with a YeyeNews.com reporter explained that the practice of inhaling alcohol is called vaping. “The act of vaping is becoming widespread in Nigeria especially in parts of northern Nigeria where alcohol consumption is prohibited. Because this practice provides almost instant delivery of the alcohol into the bloodstream, the effects are felt very quickly. Small amounts of inhaled alcohol can make a person much more intoxicated than drinking it instead. And you can’t perceive the smell of alcohol in the person”, according to Dr. Obinna.
A top Hisbah commander did not deny the allegations when asked by YeyeNews reporter. The commander only said the Hisbah corps is doing everything possible to stop its operatives from indulging in the “sinful practice”. He went to say that his command will fish out the officers involved in the vaping that occurred by using videos taken and submitted by by the public the day the truck fell.
