A video recorded in Maradun, Zamfara State, shows a member of a Nigerian Islamic movement leading Islamic school pupils in chants demanding AK-47 rifles to attack Christians at Sunday worship in Enugu and Jos. Zamfara police arrested the man on Oct. 27.
A day earlier, gunmen in neighboring Katsina State shot dead Sheikh Yahaya Masussuka, a Muslim cleric who preached peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians. The al-Qaeda-affiliated group Ansaru has claimed responsibility for his killing.
Police identified the man in the video as Umar Ibrahim Gandi Maradun, 22, a native of Maradun Local Government Area. He reportedly joined Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah (Society for the Removal of Innovation and Reestablishment of the Sunnah), or JIBWIS, in 2025. JIBWIS is a Salafi movement also known as Izala. Preliminary police findings show the video was recorded on Friday, Oct. 23. He and pupils from two Islamic schools in Maradun were on their way to Aliyu Ibn Abi Thalib Mosque, where they reportedly provided security during Friday prayers. He wore the uniform of the JIBWIS First Aid Group, known locally as ‘Yan Agaji.
In the footage, he leads the pupils on an early morning jog in formation while they chant demands for AK-47 rifles. Premium Times translated one line as: “Give me an AK-47 so that I will go to Enugu and kill non-Muslims on Sunday while they are praying.” He also asks for guns to go to Jos, Plateau State, to kill “infidels.” According to SaharaReporters, the chants call Enugu a “land of infidels” and ask for a rifle to “spray fire on them while they worship.”
Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, the JIBWIS national chairman, disowned the video. He said its remarks were “entirely foreign to the core values, teachings, and objectives of JIBWIS.” He said wearing the First Aid Group uniform does not mean a person acts for the organization, and he called on the Department of State Services (DSS) and the police to investigate. He also suggested, without offering evidence, that the video could be an attempt to damage the group’s reputation.
Archbishop Daniel Okoh, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), issued a statement calling on the DSS, the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to investigate. He asked them to establish when and where the video was recorded, who took part, and who organized it. “Such threats must not be dismissed as mere chants or treated as harmless displays of youthful exuberance,” the statement said. CAN added that the JIBWIS denial does not replace an independent investigation.
Zamfara State Commissioner of Police A.M. Bello announced the arrest at a press briefing in Gusau on Oct. 27. He said police had engaged the national and state leadership of JIBWIS, which distanced itself from the video before the suspect was apprehended and handed over. Police said they will charge him in court with incitement to violence, disturbance of public peace and criminal intimidation under Sections 77, 78 and 380(b) of the Penal Code Law applicable in Zamfara State.
On Monday evening, Oct. 26, two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on Masussuka at the entrance to his home in Dutsin-Ma town, Katsina State. The attack killed him and his associate, Adamu Abubakar. The two men were pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The Katsina State Police Command confirmed the killing and said it had deployed tactical teams to track down the attackers.
Masussuka preached peaceful relations between Muslims and Christians and spoke against violent extremism. He questioned the authority of the Hadith and argued that religious teachings should be judged against the Quran. In November 2025, he complained to the Katsina State Government that members of Izala had threatened to attack him.
President Bola Tinubu condemned the killing in an Oct. 27 statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, his special adviser on information and strategy. He called it “an assault on the values of peace and sanctity of human life.” He also directed the police and other security agencies “to move swiftly” to arrest those responsible.
Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan (Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa), known as Ansaru, is a Nigerian al-Qaeda affiliate. It claimed responsibility in a video obtained by Premium Times on Oct. 27. The group accused Masussuka of “misleading Muslims and undermining Islam” and said he had turned down an invitation to a religious debate. It tied the killing to his teachings and his position on peaceful coexistence between faiths. It warned others it accuses of rejecting the Hadith to abandon those positions or face attack.
In separate remarks in Hausa, Muh’d Hussaini Buzaye, national president of the Fulani organization Kautal Pulaaku, said religion is a factor in the conflicts in Nigeria’s North-Central states. “If you consider Plateau, Taraba, if you consider areas around Nasarawa and Benue, the conflict in those areas is about ethnicity and religion,” he said, according to a translation by the field reporting team.
The post “Give Me an AK-47”: Video Shows Nigerian Youths Chanting for Rifles to Kill Christians at Sunday Worship appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.