JIBWIS disowns viral video threatening Christians, calls for security agencies’ probe
The Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) has dissociated itself from a viral video showing a group of people wearing its First Aid Group uniform chanting threats against Christians.
In the footage, the group’s leader is heard calling for the provision of AK-47 rifles to enable them to carry out attacks on churches in Enugu and Plateau states.
The National Chairman of JIBWIS, Sheikh Abdullahi Bala-Lau, condemned the video and urged the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force and other relevant security agencies to investigate the incident, identify those involved and prosecute anyone found culpable in accordance with the law.
Bala-Lau said the inflammatory remarks and calls for violence were inconsistent with the organisation’s principles, teachings and objectives.
He stressed that wearing the JIBWIS First Aid Group uniform or appearing alongside its members did not automatically mean that an individual was representing the organisation or had its authorisation to speak on its behalf.
The cleric also expressed concern that the incident could be a deliberate attempt by individuals or external interests to damage the organisation’s reputation and undermine peaceful coexistence.
He called on security agencies to investigate the circumstances surrounding the video, including the identities, affiliations and possible motives of those involved.
Bala-Lau cited JIBWIS’s efforts to promote religious tolerance, pointing to its recent international conference in Abuja, which brought together Christian leaders, Muslim scholars from different Islamic schools of thought, prominent personalities and international delegates.
According to him, the conference aimed to promote interfaith dialogue, mutual understanding, religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
He questioned how an organisation that had consistently invested resources and leadership efforts in bridging religious and ethnic divides could be associated with statements advocating violence against fellow Nigerians.
The JIBWIS chairman also reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to its nearly 48-year history of promoting authentic Islamic teachings, the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), moral reformation, education, humanitarian services and peaceful coexistence among people regardless of their religious, ethnic or geographical backgrounds.