By Tony Onyima, Ph.D.
By all standards of decency, law, and civilisation, the latest video of an Islamic cleric allegedly placing — and then doubling — a N2 million cash bounty on the head of a Christian pastor should alarm every Nigerian, regardless of religion or region. It is not merely offensive rhetoric. It is an invitation to violence, reckless incitement, and a dangerous attempt to commercialise murder under the cloak of religious outrage.
According to material circulating online and cited by multiple commentators, the cleric first announced a reward of N1 million for anyone who would kill the unnamed pastor over alleged insults against Prophet Muhammad He later resurfaced in another video, reportedly increasing the sum to N2 million while daring security operatives to arrest him.
That a person could publicly issue such a threat in a democratic country and still feel sufficiently emboldened to increase the reward exposes a frightening culture of impunity. This can not be normal. This mnd silence, in moments like this, becomes complicity.
The practice of placing a “fatwa,” bounty, or death sentence on perceived offenders belongs to the darkest traditions of mob intolerance. It has no place in a constitutional republic governed by laws. Nigeria’s criminal justice system does not permit clerics, mobs, self-appointed defenders of faith, or online agitators to determine guilt and prescribe execution. No citizen has the right to sentence another citizen to death because of words, opinions, disagreement, satire, criticism, or even offence. Religious belief deserves respect. But respect can not be enforced through terror. When clerics or zealots threaten lives in the name of faith, they dishonour both religion and society.
Many Nigerians will remember the gruesome 2022 killing of Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, who was lynched over allegations of blasphemy The case shocked consciences across the country and around the world. Yet, years later, many still believe justice was never fully done.
That memory now hangs heavily over this latest controversy. When previous acts of religious violence appear insufficiently punished, extremists learn the wrong lesson: that intimidation works; that murder can be excused; and that the state may blink first. That is how societies slide from order into fear.
Every hour that passes without decisive action by security agencies sends a terrible signal: that some citizens are above the law; that threats are tolerated if wrapped in religious language; that victims must live in fear; and that the state can be mocked without consequence.
Nigeria can not afford such signals. A nation already battling insecurity, sectarian distrust, and regional suspicion must not permit private death warrants to flourish online. This issue is not Christianity versus Islam. It is civilisation versus savagery. Law versus lawlessness. Citizenship versus mob rule. Millions of Nigerian Muslims reject violence and cherish peaceful coexistence. Many Islamic scholars teach mercy, patience, and lawful conduct. They, too, should speak loudly now because extremists often exploit silence to pretend they represent the mainstream. They do not.
Those who place prices on human heads are not defenders of faith. They are enemies of peace. The response from security agencies should be swift and unambiguous: investigate and arrest anyone credibly linked to incitement to murder. Protect any threatened persons immediately. Prosecute under relevant criminal laws. Monitor platforms used to spread explicit calls for violence. Encourage respected religious leaders to reject vigilantism publicly. Anything less would embolden imitators.
Every nation faces moments that reveal whether laws are real or ornamental. This is one of such moments for Nigeria. If citizens can be hunted because a cleric is offended, then nobody is truly safe. Today, it is a pastor. Tomorrow, it could be a journalist, teacher, activist, comedian, politician, or ordinary citizen. The line must be drawn now. No preacher should become a judge, jury, and executioner. No sermon should become a murder contract. No religion should be weaponised against human life.
Nigeria must reject the culture of bounties, condemn this outrage without equivocation, and prove that the rule of law still means something.
Dr Onyima, a veteran journalist, media technocrat, and university don, is a member of The Order of The Knights of Saint Mulumba Nigeria (KSM)
