Muhammadu Marwa

Muhammad Marwa (died 1980), best known by his nickname Maitatsine, was a controversial Muslim preacher in Nigeria who founded the Yan Tatsine, a militant Quranist movement that first appeared around the early 1970s. Maitatsine is a Hausa word meaning "the one who damns" and refers to his curse-laden public speeches against the Nigerian state. He was responsible for the 1980 Kano riot, in which over 4,177 civilians, 100 policemen and about 35 military personnel were killed, including Maitatsine himself.

Background He was originally from Marwa in northern Cameroon. After his education, he moved to Kano, Nigeria in about 1945, where he became known for his controversial preachings on the Qur'an. Maitatsine spoke against the use of radios, watches, bicycles, cars and the possession of more money than necessary. In 1975, he was again arrested by Nigerian police for slander and public abuse of political authorities

According to a 2010 article published by the Sunday Trust magazine, the Nigerian military cremated Maitatsine's remains, which now rest in a bottle kept at a police laboratory in Kano.

Legacy Despite Mohammad Marwa's death, Yan Tatsine riots continued into the early 1980s. In October 1982 riots erupted in Bulumkutu, near Maiduguri, where more Yan Tatsine riots occurred in April 1985. After the deaths of several hundred people Makaniki retreated to Cameroon, where he remained until 2004 when he was arrested in Nigeria.