Amnesty, JIBWIS leaders demand probe of viral video threatening Christians

Amnesty International and leaders of the Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah have called for an investigation into a viral video showing children and teenagers chanting slogans demanding AK-47 rifles to attack Christians in Enugu and Jos, Plateau State.

The video, which has sparked outrage on social media, shows a young man leading a group of boys in marching drills while making statements threatening people attending church services on Sundays.

The footage shows the participants wearing uniforms associated with the First Aid Group, the humanitarian and volunteer service arm of JIBWIS, commonly known as ’Yan Agaji.

In the video, the chant, according to the translation accompanying the footage, calls for AK-47 rifles to enable the participants to travel to Enugu and attack Christians during Sunday worship. It also reportedly describes the state as a land of “infidels” and includes sounds imitating gunfire.

In the footage, the leader of the group was heard saying, according to the accompanying translation, “Give me AK-47 to go to Enugu, inside the infidels on every Sunday while they are happy and clapping, and open fire on them.”

Reacting to the development, Amnesty International Nigeria called on the authorities to launch an immediate and independent investigation into the incident, describing the chants as an attempt to expose children to religious hatred and violence.

In a statement posted on Facebook on Monday, the human rights organisation said, “The slogans are a vicious display of children being manipulated and indoctrinated with violence and hatred.”

It urged security agencies to investigate the organisers of the drills, establish the source and location of the footage, examine its contents and review the slogans and curricula used in the youth activities.

Amnesty also called for children involved in the programmes to be protected from radicalisation and provided with appropriate psychological and educational support, while those found responsible for promoting intolerance through the activities should be held accountable.

“Protecting children from exposure to hateful rhetoric, militarised drills, and extreme indoctrination is an obligation of the state under national and international law,” the organisation said.

It cited the Child Rights Act and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as safeguards requiring the protection of minors from violence, hate speech and recruitment or training in paramilitary activities.

The organisation warned that using religious training groups or structured youth programmes to promote hostile ideologies could endanger children and undermine freedom of religion.

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of JIBWIS, Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, has dissociated his organisation from the statements in the video and called on security agencies to identify and arrest anyone found culpable.

In a statement issued by the organisation, Bala Lau urged the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force and other relevant agencies to investigate the incident and ensure that those responsible were brought to justice.

He said, “JIBWIS categorically dissociates itself from these inflammatory statements, stressing that such expressions of violence, intimidation and threats against any community are completely alien to the principles, teachings and objectives upon which the organisation was established.”

The JIBWIS leader cautioned against concluding that the individual was acting on behalf of the organisation simply because he was wearing its First Aid Group uniform.

“Wearing the uniform of the JIBWIS First Aid Group or appearing among its members does not automatically establish that an individual is acting on behalf of the organisation or with its authorisation,” he said.

Bala Lau also expressed concern that the incident could be an attempt by individuals or external interests to misrepresent the organisation and damage its reputation.

He cited JIBWIS’s recent international conference in Abuja, which brought together Christian leaders, Muslim scholars from different Islamic schools of thought and other participants to promote interfaith dialogue, mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence.

The chairman said the organisation had remained committed to Islamic teachings, education, humanitarian services and peaceful coexistence across religious, ethnic and geographical divides.

Similarly, the JIBWIS faction led by Sheikh Yahaya Jingir condemned the video, saying it did not support incitement or threats against people of other faiths.

The faction’s Chairman of Internet Operations, Mallam Ibrahim Maina, told The PUNCH in Jos on Monday that the leadership was unhappy with the development.

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“I saw the video quite alright, and we in JIBWIS, led by Yahaya Jingir, condemn it. We are not happy about it,” Maina said.

He explained that there were two factions of the Izala movement and claimed that those seen in the video were not members of the Jingir-led faction.

“You know there are two factions of the Izala sect. The one that did that video, even though not from the sect led by Sheikh Jingir, is not something anyone will encourage. It is done by the one led by Bala Lau,” he said.

Maina added that Bala Lau had also condemned the video and directed the relevant officials of his faction to ensure that the individual involved was apprehended and made available for questioning by security agencies.

“And even today in Kaduna, he spoke about it in a programme, and he gave a directive that the National Director of their own sect should go after the boy, get the boy, and the boy should be interrogated, and the security should be allowed to interrogate the boy, because I listened to the sect leader today myself,” he said.

However, Maina said he had learnt that the footage was not recent and might have been recorded around 2020 before resurfacing online.

“Although the video is not a welcome development, I learnt that it is not a recent video; that it happened sometime around 2020 but it is now that it went public,” he said.

The video has also attracted widespread reactions on social media, with users calling on security agencies to investigate the alleged threats and determine the identities of those involved.

An X user and Special Adviser to the Federal Capital Territory Minister on Media, Lere Olayinka, questioned how threats could be made in the name of religion and tagged the DSS and the police, urging them to investigate the footage.

Another user, Mato, described the alleged chant as “pure barbarism,” while Lekdung linked the incident to concerns about religious intolerance in Northern Nigeria.

Babankowa called on the authorities and the Izala leadership to investigate the video and take appropriate action against anyone found responsible, adding that “Nigeria is more important than anything.”

Pandora Queen, who identified as a Muslim, also condemned the conduct allegedly depicted in the footage.

“As a Muslim, I condemn this behaviour, and I call on the appropriate authorities to take action on these young men. This is not Islam or what Islam teaches us,” the user wrote.

However, Faysarhl criticised what the user described as the tendency to associate the actions of northerners with Islam while treating similar conduct by people from other regions differently.

As of the time of filing this report, the identities of the individuals in the video and the circumstances surrounding its recording had not been independently verified.

The claim that the footage was recorded around 2020 also remained unconfirmed.

Efforts to get the force spokesman, Aniete Iniedu, failed on Monday night.

Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Abbas Jimoh, for comments on the matter were unsuccessful, as he did not respond to WhatsApp messages sent to him.

Repeated attempts to obtain his reaction through direct telephone calls to his line were also unsuccessful, as he did not answer the calls.

As of the time of filing this report, Jimoh had yet to respond to the messages or return the calls.