Nigerian Governor Orders Crackdown on Unauthorized Islamic Vigilante Group
Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang ordered security agencies on August 30 to shut down and arrest members of a group reportedly operating as Hisbah, an Islamic religious enforcement patrol, after reports it was intimidating and harassing residents, demanding money, and imposing rules in parts of Jos North Local Government Area without any legal authority. Hisbah groups function as informal religious police in several northern Nigerian states, though Plateau State has no legal framework authorizing one.
Mutfwang said the action was "not directed against any religion, ethnic group or community," and that the government's concern was the group's unauthorized assumption of policing power, warning that anyone attempting to enforce religious rules or exercise authority outside Nigeria's legal system would face arrest and prosecution. The order comes weeks after a separate attack killed at least 24 people in the same state, part of a pattern of communal violence that has repeatedly touched Plateau's Christian communities.
