How did some northern Nigerian Muslims use hejira as a form of resistance to British rule?

Following the British conquest of the northern emirates in 1903, many Muslims in northern Nigeria utilized the hejira as a non-military form of resistance against colonial rule.12

In this context, the hejira—a term historically associated with the migration of the Prophet Muhammad—was employed as a strategy to avoid living under the authority of those perceived as infidels, specifically the British colonial administration. While some leaders, such as the deposed caliph Atahiru I, engaged in direct rebellion, many other Muslims chose migration as a means of maintaining their religious integrity and distancing themselves from British control.12