Lagos, Nigeria — An Islamic body in northern Nigeria, Council of Ulamas, has warned visiting German preacher Reinhard Bonnke to stay away from the area country or face its wrath.

Council chairman Ibrahim Kabo said any attempt by the preacher to visit the predominantly Moslem north would have far-reaching consequences.

"We cannot in a hurry forget the calamities experienced in 1991 in Kano...when he visited Nigeria to preach his doctrine. We are not going to fold our arms and watch this enemy of Sharia directly or indirectly re-enact the 1991 disturbance," he told journalists in the northern city of Kano at the weekend.

The Ulamas condemned the federal government for allowing the preacher into the country, saying: "We hope there is no hidden agenda in this visit. We want him out of this country in the interest of peace."

Bonnke's last attempt to hold a crusade in Moslem-dominated Kano triggered a religious riot in which many were killed and several properties destroyed.

Aware of the controversy his visit was likely to generate in Nigeria, which is divided almost equally between Christians and Moslems, Bonnke hinted on arrival in Nigeria last weekend that he could no longer go to the north to preach.

"The Kano incident of 1991 brought a lot of grief to my own heart," he said. "I don't want my physical presence to cause any harm to any Nigerian. I know God will send another evangelist since I can no longer go there."

Since his arrival, Bonnke has held a number of crusades in the commercial city of Lagos, drawing a huge crowd of Christians on all occasions.