When, on August 16, a 34-year-old Rabiu Mukhtar, allegedly opened fire at a wedding ceremony in Kano, it made the headlines. This became big news especially against the reason for the shooting, which left one guest, Aliyu Mustapha, dead and injured at least three others.
The suspect said he released the trigger because the noise from the wedding party was disturbing his sleep.
Spokesperson for the Kano State Police Command, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, confirmed the incident. He said the suspect allegedly came out of his house and opened fire on people attending the ceremony.
He said ‘The man, Rabiu Mukthar of Tudun Yola Quarters, used a pump-action gun to sporadically shoot at the gathering of the marriage celebration.’ Kiyawa added that ‘two suspects were arrested during the incident, which happened on Sunday, 16th August 2026, and the pump-action rifle was recovered as well. The case is still under investigation.”
Another example of a wedding that went awry and similar to the Kano incident happened in the Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar Province, Eastern Afganistan in October 2021, when three guests were shot dead at a wedding reception apparently because music was being played at all.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid later told reporters that no law permits killing anyone for playing music. ‘In the ranks of the Islamic Emirate no one has the right to turn anyone away from music or anything, only to try to persuade them. That is the main way,’ Mujahid told the press conference.
Just as in Afghanistan, playing of music is not prohibited in Nigeria. What is prohibited is playing the music too loud in a way that it causes noise pollution.
We sympathise with Mukhtar whose sound sleep was disturbed by the noise from the loud speakers. He is entitled to freedom to sleep soundly without disturbance.
However, he does not have the right to take life simply because his sleep was disturbed. He should have reported the matter to the law enforcement agencies in the area. Good enough, Kano State has enough laws to deal with the matter. These include the Kano State Public Health Law of 2019: Section 7 of which prohibits environmental nuisances and disturbances, including excessive noise from generators, machinery, or business operations that prevent residents from resting or sleeping.
There is also the Kano State Environmental Control Law which empowers authorised officers to act on noise complaints, seize offending equipment, and penalise violators; and the National Environmental (Noise Standards and Control) Regulations, 2009, a federal law enforced locally that set area-specific noise limits for residential, commercial, and mixed-use zones.
Mukhtar could have taken advantage of any of these rather than resort to self-help.
Unfortunately, he has messed up his case through his uncontrolled anger. Now, he risks being prosecuted for culpable homicide and attempted murder and causing grievous hurt. And, if his pump-action rifle is not licensed, that is another crime: unlawful possession / use of firearm would join the charges.
Many people had overreacted in the past when faced with such provocation. They have had to engage the celebrators physically, resulting into bodily injuries and what have you. Even this is bad enough.
However, amidst what seems a confusion or lack of understanding of where individual rights stop, perhaps what we need to reduce such ugly incidents is sustained enlightenment to educate both those who think they have the right to blare their music anyhow, and the law-abiding citizens.
Many people selling cassettes and disks, or even churches and mosques, are either ignorant of, or simply refuse to respect the right of people in their environment the way they turn up the volume of their speakers. They assume whatever they are playing must interest everybody. They need to be compelled to know that they are not entitled to any such assumption.
As in Kano State, the laws are everywhere; what is lacking is enforcement. So, the law enforcement agencies should help reduce incidents like that of Kano by enforcing extant laws on noise pollution.