The Patrick Anum Advocacy Group

1914 Bluffside Dr, Fayetteville, NC 2829, Washington DC

United States of America

Tel: +316861906

27 September 2026

TO:

The Commissioner of Police

Nigeria Police Force, Plateau State Command Jos, Plateau State

COPY: The Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Plateau State Command

COPY: The Attorney-General & Commissioner for Justice, Plateau State

COPY: The Inspector-General of Police, Nigeria Police Force, Abuja

RE: PETITION FOR INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGED INCITEMENT, THREATS TO PUBLIC ORDER AND CONDUCT CAPABLE OF PROVOKING INTER-COMMUNAL VIOLENCE - CONDUCT OF SHEIKH SANI YAHAYA JINGIR

Dear Sir/Madam,

On behalf of The Patrick Anum Advocacy Group, I write to formally petition your offices to investigate public remarks attributed to Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir, which we believe warrant urgent attention on account of their potential to incite inter-communal and inter-religious tension, including in Plateau State.

Yesterday, 26 September, Sheikh Jingir was separately reported to have asserted that Muslims form a majority in Plateau State relative to Christians. This is despite his being fully aware that the 54 ethnic groups forming the majority of Plateau State's indigenous population are Christian and Traditionalist.

On Sunday, 9 August 2026, addressing supporters at the "Abba Go Again" campaign event for the Kano State Governor in Kano, Sheikh Jingir was reported to have referred to non-Muslims as  "infidels." In light of recent attacks in the State, we are concerned that such remarks serve to justify the actions of migratory Fulani militia groups that have attacked and displaced communities in the area.

This assertion, if used to justify altering the political or demographic balance of the State, is capable of inflaming the very tensions that have historically driven violence in Plateau State.

We note that these remarks have already attracted public condemnation: on Tuesday, 11 August 2026, Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) publicly described the statements as hate speech and incitement to religious hatred and potential violence, and formally called on the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, and other relevant federal authorities to arrest and prosecute Sheikh Jingir. We join the NHRC in calling for his arrest. To our knowledge, no arrest had been announced nor public charges filed as at the date of this petition.

We further note that findings by the African Studies Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands, in March 2006 placed Plateau State's Christian population at 95%, underscoring the absurdity of Sheikh Jingir's claim to Muslim numerical superiority in the State.

In addition to the foregoing, we bring to your attention the following further conduct on the part of Sheikh Jingir, which we believe demonstrates a sustained pattern of inflammatory and divisive rhetoric, and which we submit ought to have attracted investigation - and, where warranted, arrest - long before now:

• In 2020, he described the COVID-19 pandemic as a conspiracy intended to stop Muslims from gathering to pray, and in March 2020 led congregational prayers in defiance of government restrictions on public gatherings;
  
  
• In 2023, he framed voting for the "Muslim-Muslim" presidential ticket as a religious obligation for all Muslims, reportedly describing Muslims who did not support the ticket as non-believers;
  In March 2023, he is reported to have described the then All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate for Plateau State as a vehicle for advancing Islam in the State, deepening the State's religious divisions, and to have referred to indigenes of the State as "killers," profiling various indigenous communities;

 

• In July 2025, he publicly criticised Muslim scholars who received the politician Peter Obi, objecting to Mr Obi's wearing of Hausa traditional dress and invoking the killing of the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, during the January 1966 coup; he was reported to have said, "We Fulani will never forgive the Igbo for killing our Sardauna";
  
  
• More recently, he has argued that Plateau State does not belong to its indigenes but to God, a statement we believe was calculated to inflame indigene-settler tensions in the State; and
  
  
• He has also, without evidence, accused a former Governor of Plateau State of organ harvesting targeting Hausa and Fulani settlers - an unsubstantiated allegation that has further heightened tension in the State.
  
  

We wish to state clearly that we do not ask your offices to prejudge these matters or to act against Sheikh Jingir on the strength of allegation or media report alone. Rather, given the gravity and pattern of this conduct, and the NHRC's own public findings, we ask that the competent authorities:

1. Investigate the making, content and circulation of the August 2026 Kano remarks and the further conduct set out above, including by obtaining the underlying video/audio recordings, transcripts and publications, and coordinate as appropriate with the NHRC, which has already reviewed footage of the 2026 remarks;
2. Take steps to preserve all available evidence relating to these statements, including recordings, publications, and any related correspondence or online material;
3. Authenticate and evaluate the statements against the relevant provisions of Nigerian law concerning incitement, promotion of ethnic or religious hatred, and threats to public order and peace; and
4. Where the investigation establishes reasonable grounds that an offence has been committed, take appropriate lawful enforcement action, including arrest and prosecution where warranted, in accordance with due process — consistent with the NHRC's own public call for action.
   We make this request mindful of the sensitivity of Plateau State's recent history and the responsibility on all parties to prevent a recurrence of communal violence. Our intention is not to suppress legitimate expression, but to ensure that conduct capable of inciting violence or deliberately altering the peaceful co-existence of communities in Plateau State is properly investigated and addressed within the law.

We are prepared to furnish any further information, documentation or assistance that may aid this investigation, and would be grateful for an acknowledgement of receipt of this petition together with an indication of the steps to be taken.

Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Patrick Anum

Founder, The Patrick Anum Advocacy Group

The Patrick Anum Advocacy Group • 1914 Bluffside Dr, Fayetteville, NC 2829, Washington DC, USA • Tel: +316861906