However, Amnesty International Nigeria said the authorities must investigate the instructors of the drill, examine the source, location and content of the video footage, and review the curricula used during the youth activities. Buy Maps
Amnesty International Nigeria has called on the Nigerian authorities to immediately and independently investigate a viral video showing teenagers and children participating in a marching drill led by adult coordinators wearing uniforms associated with the Jama’atu Izalatu Bidi’a wa’iqamatus-Sunnah (JIBWIS).
In a statement posted on its X handle on Monday, the rights group said the marchers were chanting slogans asking to be handed “an AK-47 to attack Christians on a Sunday in Enugu and Jos,” describing the chants as “a vicious display of children being manipulated and indoctrinated with religious violence and hatred.”
The footage, which SaharaReporters reported earlier has circulated widely on Facebook and X. It captures a group of young boys jogging in formation while repeatedly demanding assault rifles and singing about travelling to the two cities to attack worshippers.Read Daily News
The chants reference violence against people described as “infidels,” with one speaker calling for an AK-47 to “open fire on worshippers on a Sunday,” describing Enugu as a “land of infidels” and making verbal imitations of gunfire.
However, Amnesty International Nigeria said the authorities must investigate the instructors of the drill, examine the source, location and content of the video footage, and review the curricula used during the youth activities. It insisted that the organisation behind the activities must be held to account.
The group also urged the authorities to ensure that minors involved in the programmes are protected from radicalisation and provided with appropriate psychological and educational support, while holding accountable any individuals or religious groups found to be using children to promote intolerance and encourage infringement of religious freedom.
“Protecting children from exposure to hateful rhetoric, militarised drills and extreme indoctrination is an obligation of the state under national and international law,” Amnesty International Nigeria said.Buy Maps
It added that under the Child Rights Act and international human rights frameworks, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have an absolute right to protection from exposure to violence, hate speech, and recruitment or training in paramilitary activities.
The rights group warned that using structured youth programmes or religious training groups to instil hostile ideologies compromises the safety of children and undermines freedom of religion.
