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Kano, Nigeria - Authorities in northern Nigeria's Jigawa state have banned smoking in public and warned that anyone who flouts the law will be jailed or fined, a legislator told AFP on Saturday.

Sale Usman, head of the health committee at Jigawa state legislature said in a telephone interview from the state capital Dutse that lawmakers took the decision "to curb the alarming rate of smoking in the state especially among the youth which poses serious health risks to everyone, including non-smokers.

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Anybody caught contravening the law will face one month imprisonment or be made to pay a fine of 5 000 naira (about R300) Usman said.

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The Public Smoking Prohibition Law which was unanimously endorsed by the 30-member assembly, bans smoking in public, including in "public offices, rallies, parks, markets, funerals and ceremonies as well as all places where people gather," he said.

'We believe this prohibition will discourage smoking'

"We believe this prohibition will discourage smoking and will also reduce the number of young smokers who imbibe the habit of smoking from older ones who smoke in their presence.

"The less the young see the older ones smoking, the less they are attracted to smoking", Usman said.

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