Izala Leader Disowns Viral Video, Asks DSS, Police To Arrest Youths Seeking AK-47 To Attack Enugu
The National Chairman of Jama’atu Izalatul Bidi’ah Wa’iƙamatus-Sunnah, JIBWIS, popularly known as Izala, Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, has disowned a viral video showing youths in Izala aid group uniform calling for arms to attack Enugu.
Sheikh Bala Lau condemned the video and called on the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Nigeria Police Force to urgently arrest those involved.
In a statement issued on Monday, October 26, 2026, by the group’s media officer, Ibrahim Shehu Giwa, Bala Lau said:
“We call on DSS operatives and police to arrest the person who made the video, wearing aid group uniform, making statements that they should be given AK-47 to go to Enugu on Sunday, during exercise, to attack.”
The video, about one minute long, surfaced on social media on Monday morning and shows youths in JIBWIS aid group kits parading and chanting in a song-like manner.
The clip was posted on X by Lere Olayinka, Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Media, and has sparked outrage, with many Nigerians describing the chants as capable of causing unrest and inciting hate.
Sheikh Bala Lau said the utterances have no place in Izala’s teachings.
“Threat and call for violence against any community are not part of the objectives and teachings of the group. Even though he was seen wearing our aid group uniform, and seen among us, that does not mean he was not sent to tarnish the group’s image,” he said.
He said wearing JIBWIS uniform does not mean the person was acting with the group’s permission, and expressed concern that some persons may be using the incident to damage the group’s name.
He urged security agencies to investigate the circumstances under which the video was recorded, those in it, their link to the group and their motive.
In a separate video posted on X, Bala Lau and other leaders including Sheikh Kabiru Gombe also spoke on the matter and demanded arrest of those involved.
The video has divided opinion. While some claim it was recorded in 2020 and was dug up to cause tension, others called for probe.
Former Senator Shehu Sani condemned the utterances, especially an alleged threat against Christians, and called for investigation, but said the view of one youth should not be attributed to JIBWIS as a whole.
“JIBWIS is a group that has never supported violence,” Sani said.
Former presidential media aide Bashir Ahmad also said: “Such words have no place in Islamic teachings. I call on security agencies to investigate the video.”
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has called for a full investigation into the video, its leaders, location, date and teaching curricula, and for protection of children from indoctrination into extremism, citing Nigeria’s Child Rights Act and UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
