Don Allah kayi hakuri, by Nura Alkali

Don Allah kayi hakuri. Where in the Quran or Hadith did Allah jenjoin us to break the law and request forgiveness?

“Don Allah ayi hakuri”. The phrase looks innocuous enough, but it is abused like no other in the North. Today I entered Gombe and, within minutes, a Kabu-Kabu driver ran a red light to hit my car. Luckily, I suffered no injuries and the only damage was to my bumper and right flood-lamp.

Though it was raining heavily, 9 witnesses had gathered at the scene to narrate events to the traffic police who arrived later. They all said I had the green light and the other driver had ignored red lights on his side of the road. But at the police MTD office, this guy insisted I was the one who ran the red light.

I didn’t take the phone number of any witness, but it turned out that the DTO himself learnt of the accident from a witness (may be a police informant) who called him on phone. With that, and the report of the traffic wardens, my man started sweating and pleading “don Allah ayi hakuri”.

I told him “You ran a traffic light but had the temerity to transfer blame on me? We shall meet in court”. I had seen his badly-damaged car which couldn’t move and had to be towed. So, I won’t take his money. But I decided to teach him a lesson. In my journeys, Gombe has proved most notorious for contempt of traffic lights by commercial drivers. So, my friend was in the right hands.

I rejected pleas for mercy from his relatives gathered at the station. My response was always the same: “Your brother shows no remorse for causing the accident. All he wants is freedom from financial liability to quickly run a red light again. But know that if this was London or Dubai that we so much adore, he will spend tonight in jail for his offense”.

I left the station with the pretense of going to court. I will return tomorrow to keep up with appearances. I’ll then withdraw the case on Thursday, by which time, my friend will have accumulated parking fees at the police station. That, and the repairs to his car, should teach him to obey traffic rules in future, and perhaps save a life.

Don Allah kayi hakuri. Where in the Quran or Hadith did Allah enjoin us to break the law and request forgiveness?

*Alkali is a neurological doctor in Bauchi. This experience of his was posted on his Facebook wall on Monday.