A viral video showing a young man in a uniform associated with the JIBWIS First Aid Group, popularly known as ‘Yan Agaji, leading children in a Hausa chant demanding an AK-47 to attack Christian worshippers in Enugu and kill more people in Jos is not ordinary hate speech. It is an alleged public rehearsal for sectarian massacre.
Whether the speaker acted alone, was authorised by JIBWIS or sought to embarrass the organisation, the state must urgently investigate, identify those responsible and prosecute credible cases of incitement to violence without allowing collective blame against Muslims or Izala adherents.
A Line That Cannot Be Crossed
The reported words are chillingly specific: “Give me an AK-47 so that I will go to Enugu and kill non-Muslims on Sunday while they are praying,” followed by a call to “go to Jos and kill more infidels.”
This is not ambiguous theology, political criticism or merely offensive rhetoric. It names a weapon, a target, a place of worship, a day of assembly and an intended victim group. In counterterrorism and conflict-prevention terms, such language can normalise violence, desensitise children and lower the moral barrier to killing.
Public theology must be unambiguous here: no authentic interpretation of Islam, Christianity or any other faith can sanctify the murder of unarmed worshippers. Religious freedom protects belief, worship, preaching and peaceful conversion; it does not protect calls to exterminate people because they pray differently.
A state that treats such a video as mere “provocation” communicates that the lives of religious minorities are negotiable.
Jos and the Memory of Angwan Rukuba
The mention of Jos is especially dangerous because Plateau State carries a long history of communal trauma.
In August 2021, an attack on a convoy of Muslim travellers near Jos killed as many as 27 people and injured 14. The US State Department documented the incident in its religious freedom reporting.
More recently, reports of an attack in Angwan Rukuba, Jos North, described gunmen arriving on motorcycles and firing indiscriminately. Local sources reported at least 27 deaths, while the police cited 26.
That history should caution against simplistic conclusions. Violence in Nigeria is often driven by disputes over land, grazing routes, criminality, political competition and ethnic grievances, with religion sometimes functioning as an accelerant rather than the sole cause.
An analysis by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project, cited in public reporting, found that between January and June 2022, only about five per cent of events involving attacks on civilians explicitly cited religious identity. Between 2020 and 2024, ethnically targeted events reportedly caused 4,990 fatalities, compared with 779 in religiously targeted events.
However, the relatively small proportion of religiously targeted violence does not make it less urgent. When attackers select victims based on their religious identity, the consequences extend beyond those killed to affect an entire community’s sense of security and belonging.
The Danger of Indoctrinating Children
The most disturbing element is the presence of children and teenagers reportedly chanting along with the adult leader.
Children do not spontaneously develop the vocabulary of sectarian extermination; they learn it through repetition, authority, ritual and social reward. A chant can become a cognitive script: they are infidels; they deserve death; violence is service to God.
This is where peacebuilding must begin.
Schools, madrasas, Sunday schools, youth groups and volunteer organisations need curricula that distinguish religious identity from the creation of enemies. Clerics and teachers must be trained to reject dehumanising labels such as “infidels” when they are used to justify harm.
Interfaith education should not be a ceremonial photo opportunity. It should teach children that Christians, Muslims and adherents of other faiths share equal dignity before God and are entitled to equal protection under Nigeria’s Constitution.
Accountability Without Collective Punishment
JIBWIS leadership has publicly condemned the video, called on security agencies to arrest the person who filmed it and made the threats, and cautioned that wearing its relief uniform does not establish that the individual was authorised to act on behalf of the organisation.
That response matters. It creates room for a principled position: investigate the individual and any associated network rigorously, but do not turn one man’s alleged criminality into an indictment of Izala, JIBWIS, northern Muslims or Islam.
The same principle should protect Christians when crimes are committed by individuals who identify as Christians, just as it should protect Muslims when crimes are committed by individuals who identify as Muslims.
Collective punishment is not justice; it is fuel for the next massacre. Responsibility must be individualised, evidence-based and proportionate.
Deterrence Requires Prosecution
Nigeria already has legal tools to address threats and incitement. The Criminal Code criminalises certain offences relating to religious insult and violence against officiating ministers, while the Penal Code applicable in northern states contains offences relating to public order and incitement.
More importantly, threats to kill, conspiracy, unlawful possession of or solicitation for firearms, and incitement to violence should be pursued under the applicable criminal laws with the seriousness they deserve.
Deterrence will fail if influential people can incite violence and then retreat behind claims of “misunderstanding” or appeals to religious sentiment.
Investigators should establish the speaker’s identity, verify the video’s provenance, examine who organised the march, determine whether children were coerced or indoctrinated, trace any links to arms networks or extremist recruiters, and assess whether similar chants occurred elsewhere.
Amnesty International Nigeria and JIBWIS leaders have both called for an investigation. That consensus should translate into a formal, transparent and time-bound inquiry.
A Public Theology Agenda for Peace
Nigeria needs more than arrests. It needs a public theology of shared humanity, reinforced by practical conflict-resolution institutions.
These should include:
– Early-warning mechanisms: Churches, mosques, schools and neighbourhood associations should have channels for reporting threats before they escalate into attacks.
– Rapid interfaith crisis-response teams: Plateau, Enugu, Kaduna, Benue and other conflict-prone areas need teams capable of countering rumours and preventing reprisals.
– Protection of worshippers: Risk assessments, community policing and intelligence-led security should be strengthened around major religious services.
– Accountability for hate preachers: Those who incite violence must face the law, regardless of their religion, ethnicity or political influence.
– Trauma-informed reconciliation: Survivors of violence in Jos, other parts of Plateau State, Southern Kaduna, Benue and other affected communities need sustained support and opportunities for reconciliation.
The reported death toll from insecurity in Nigeria remains staggering. A recent study cited by BusinessDay estimated that 55,910 people had been killed and 21,000 abducted in terror-related violence since 2019.
Behind every figure is a family, a congregation, a neighbourhood and a future stolen.
Nigeria cannot preach peace on Sunday and tolerate calls for slaughter on Monday.
The answer to sectarian hatred is neither silence nor revenge. It is truth, equal protection, courageous religious leadership and punishment precise enough to deter the next person who mistakes God’s name for a licence to kill.
Cliff Stanley
Political Scientist and Public Theologian
Jos, ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS)
Email: Cliffstanley3@gmail.com
Phone: 07032826319