Police arrest man in viral video preaching religious intolerance, violence

The suspect instigating religious intolerance

The Zamfara State Police Command on Tuesday arrested the man caught in a viral video preaching religious intolerance and violence against Christians in Enugu and Plateau states.

The suspect, reportedly a member of Jama’atu Izalatil Bidi’a Wa’ikamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), was arrested by the group and handed over to the police for investigation after the video circulated on social media.

The Commissioner of Police, A.M. Bello, disclosed this during a press briefing in Gusau, saying the command had launched an investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The arrest followed a call by the leadership of JIBWIS) which has distanced itself from the man leading a jogging exercise in its First Aid Group uniform, chanting threats to Christians.

The National Chairman of JIBWIS, Abdullahi Bala-Lau, condemned the footage and urged the State Security Services (SSS), the police and other security agencies to launch an immediate investigation, unmask those behind the recording, and prosecute anyone found culpable.

Mr Bala-Lau stated that the inciting remarks and calls for violence are entirely foreign to the core values, teachings, and objectives of JIBWIS.

He cautioned that merely wearing the organisation’s First Aid Group uniform or standing among members does not confer official representation or authority to speak on behalf of the body.

Expressing concern about the video’s timing and nature, the cleric noted that external actors might have calculatedly staged the incident to smear the organisation’s image and undermine national peace.

He pointed to JIBWIS’s peacebuilding track record, citing its recent international conference in Abuja, which convened Christian leaders, scholars from Islamic denominations, and international delegates to foster interfaith harmony and religious tolerance.