Secret Nigerian drinking dens in Kano

Beer is officially banned in Kano but as the sun sets in the northern Nigerian city, the outside seating at bars quickly begins to fill with drinkers, Christian and Muslims alike.

These establishments selling alcohol are along a road in the Sabon Gari suburb, an area set aside for non-Muslim residents of the bustling commercial centre.

Here Sharia does not apply, so these beer parlours, as they are called, are tolerated by the Hisbah - the city's Islamic police force.

"Business is booming," says barman Paul Bini.

"It gets very full - both men and women come and people from outside Sabon Gari."

He is referring to those from the Hausa community, the Muslims who come to Sabon Gari to secretly enjoy its nightlife.

The bars here stay open until the early hours of the morning most days of the week.

Paul Bini says he keeps the bar he runs open until 02:00 most days

The bars open in the late afternoon - and start filling up after sunset

Loud music plays and football matches are often shown on small TV sets; and in the early evening prostitutes gather on the other side of the ditch between the beer parlours and the road.

"Without the Hausa community, the beer business in Sabon Gari would collapse," says Dr Patrick Ayelangbe, the leader of Kano's Non-Indigenes Community Leaders Association (Nicola) - representing the city's residents who originally come from other parts of Nigeria.

'Safety of darkness'

And on a visit to the bars one evening many of the drinkers are Hausa Muslims: Two men sitting at an outside table with bottles of beer agree to talk but refuse to have their photos taken - as is the case with most drinkers.

Bar manager Victor Akpan says there is never friction between drinkers

They say that they do not want to be recognised by their families - and they add that many Muslims chose to come here in the safety of darkness to drink.

"Sometimes three times in a week I come," says businessman Mohammed Abdul.

His companion Tanko Ali Aware says if a Muslim is arrested for drinking alcohol by the Sharia police in Kano, the punishment is to humiliate their family.

"When you are caught, you are shown on the TV: 'Look at this person, he's the son of this, the grandfather of this,'" he says.