Kano Hisbah cancels court-ordered TikTokers’ wedding

The Kano State Hisbah Board has cancelled a wedding of two TikTok celebrities that was ordered by a court after a viral kissing video.

A court had ordered the Islamic Sharia police to have the two TikTokers marry for posting the video, which was described as “indecent”.

Videos of Idris Mai Wushirya and Basira Yar Guda had circulated on TikTok showing them cuddling and kissing, drawing outrage among Kano residents.

Last Monday, a magistrate court judge directed Hisbah to within 60 days solemnise the marriage between two for posting videos showing them kissing, an act seemed indecent in Kano’s conservative Muslim society.

Speaking on the development on Sunday, October 26, 2025, the Hisbah’s director-general, Abba Sufi, said Mai Wushirya told Hisbah officials making preparations for the wedding that he was not interested in marrying Yar Guda despite having told the judge they were “in love”.

Sufi told AFP: “Mai Wushirya told us that he lied to the court that he and Yar Guda were in love to evade prosecution.

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“With this development, we have cancelled the wedding and have resolved to refer the matter to the judge who gave the order for appropriate action.”

Mai Wushiryar’s parents had on Monday gave Hisbah their “explicit consent” for the wedding while the Sharia police was making efforts to contact Yar Guda’s family.

The Kano State Government also agreed to purchase a house for the prospective couple to meet the bride’s condition.

Kano is home to a burgeoning film industry dubbed Kannywood, the second largest in the world next to Bollywood in volume, with more than 200 films produced each month in the Hausa language spoken in the region and across West Africa.

The increasing use of social media by Kannywood for skits and songs made the board of censors extend its authority to social media, arresting and jailing several TikTokers for videos considered obscene or indecent.

The Star