General Butt Naked

Joshua Milton Blahyi (born 30 September 1971), better known by his ''nom de guerre'' General Butt Naked, is a Liberian preacher and philanthropist best known for being a warlord during the First Liberian Civil War. Born in Monrovia into a Krahn family, Blahyi claims that at the age of seven he was inducted as a priest into a secret society and participated in child sacrifices, though his relatives dispute this and claim he instead dropped out of school after the third grade and worked at a local market before turning to crime. In 1989, civil war broke out after the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) invaded Liberia to topple President Samuel Doe, who was murdered in 1990, though his death did not end the war.

In , Blahyi joined the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO), which had been formed in 1991 and fought against the NPFL. He raised his own militia of mostly child fighters known as the "Naked Base Commandos", and became known for going into combat wearing no clothing, which led to him adopting his ''nom de guerre''. In 1994, ULIMO split into the rival ULIMO-K and ULIMO-J, and Blahyi backed the latter faction, resisting an attempt by the NPFL and ULIMO-K to arrest its leader Roosevelt Johnson in April 1996. Blahyi claimed to have experienced a vision of Jesus in July 1996 and abandoned his unit, turning to street preaching; in 1997, the war ended and NPFL leader Charles Taylor was elected president of Liberia.

Blahyi fled to Ghana in 1999 to escape persecution by Taylor's administration. There, Blahyi learned to read and write and began delivering sermons, founding a ministry and rehabilitation programme. He returned to Liberia in January 2008 to testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, becoming the first former Liberian warlord to do so. His testimony sparked mixed reactions among the Liberian public but resulted in Blahyi achieving global fame, being featured in several documentaries and inspiring a character in the 2011 musical comedy ''The Book of Mormon''. Many of Blahyi's claims about his life and rehabilitation programme have come under scrutiny, in particular the number of deaths he was responsible for during the war.

Early life

Joshua Milton Blahyi was born on 30 September 1971 in Monrovia, Liberia into a Krahn family. In his 2013 autobiography, Blahyi claimed he was handed over by his father at the age of seven to a group of Krahn elders, who anointed him as a high priest in their secret society. He alleged that as a priest he would receive visions informing him of children who were to be sacrificed; once he gave the victim's surname to the elders, they would abduct the child and sacrifice them on an altar. However, his half-brother Harrison Challar disputed this account, asserting Blahyi never served as a priest but instead sold Kool-Aid and chicken soup at a local market once he left school after the third grade before becoming involved in drug trafficking and robberies.

On 12 April 1980, Samuel Doe, a master sergeant in the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), staged a coup d'état which overthrew and murdered President William Tolbert. In the aftermath of Tolbert's murder, Doe became the ''de facto'' ruler of Liberia, heading a military junta known as the People's Redemption Council. Blahyi claims that he became a spiritual advisor to Doe and performed black magic rituals for him at the Executive Mansion in Monrovia to influence the 1985 Liberian general election in Doe's favour. In a 2008 interview with BBC News, Blahyi stated that his support for Doe was borne out a sense of tribal loyalty, as both men were born into Krahn families.

Wartime actions

The First Liberian Civil War began on 24 December 1989 when Charles Taylor, a former government official and commander of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group, invaded Nimba County from the Ivory Coast to depose Doe. After bouts of intense fighting and atrocities, the breakaway Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) under Prince Johnson captured and killed Doe on 9 September 1990. In May 1991, anti-NFPL Liberian politicians founded the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) in Sierra Leone. By , Blahyi had joined the ULIMO, who at the time were attempting to capture Monrovia from the NPFL. During the war, all sides vied for control of Liberia's cities and resource-rich countryside, in particular its diamond and gold mines.

As a ULIMO warlord, Blahyi formed his own militia of several dozen fighters known as the "Naked Base Commandos" or "Butt Naked Brigade", most of whom were children as young as nine. Operating around the Monrovia area with his unit, Blahyi became known for wearing only shoes and magic charms, and eventually adopted the ''nom de guerre'' "General Butt Naked". His fighters also followed his patterns of dress, which Blahyi, in line with his "distorted emulation of animist tradition", believed could make one immune to bullets. To fund his wartime activities and secure a steady supply of drugs for his fighters, Blahyi allegedly traded locally mined diamonds and gold to Mexican drug cartels in exchange for firearms and cocaine. He conscripted many of his fighters, purportedly mixing cocaine into their food along with showing them Jean-Claude Van Damme films and " xplainingto them that killing people was a game".

During the conflict, Blahyi and his fighters perpetrated numerous atrocities, although the extent of his crimes have been the subject of dispute. He has repeatedly discussed the alleged atrocities committed by him and his fighters, which according to Blahyi included murders, cannibalism and human sacrifice. Blahyi estimated that he was responsible for 20,000 deaths, a claim that has since come under criticism; fellow Liberian warlord Mohammed Toure, who saw him in combat during the operation on 6 April, acknowledged that Blahyi was a "notorious killer" but argued that he "couldn't even reach one thousand eaths��it's not possible." Academic Nicholai Lidow told ''The New Yorker'' that as Blahyi commanded at most 40 fighters for roughly three years, it was unlikely that he was responsible for 10% of the war's death toll.

In 1994, ULIMO split into two rival factions: ULIMO-J, led by Krahn commander Roosevelt Johnson, and ULIMO-K, under Mandinka commander G. V. Kromah. Blahyi supported Johnson, who funded him and his fighters. On 6 April 1996, the NPFL, in concert with ULIMO-K, launched an operation to arrest Johnson in his Monrovia residence, "leading to one of the most ferocious battles of the war". Blahyi and other ULIMO-J commanders resisted the operation, and one bystander witnessed him standing atop a truck during the battle, holding an assault rifle with one hand and the severed genitals of a man in his other hand. A ceasefire ended the fighting after hundreds of combatants and civilians had been killed.

After the battle, Blahyi claimed to have received a vision of Jesus in July 1996. In his autobiography, he wrote that the incident occurred after he had killed a three-year-old girl and removed her heart: "When I looked back, I saw a man standing there. He was so bright, brighter than the sun." He left his unit, leaving his fighters to fend for themselves, and started sleeping in one of the pews of a local church. The church's pastor proceeded to summon his congregation, and together they prayed to God, requesting him to cure Blahyi of his "demonic powers". Afterwards, Blahyi went to see his commanding officer, handing over his weapons and charms and stating "My new Commander is Jesus Christ."

Religious activities and fame

Once he ended his wartime career, Blahyi began working as a bodyguard for a bank official before becoming an evangelical street preacher, selling cassettes of his sermons on Monrovia's streets with the message of "If God can save me, He can save you, too". In 1997, the war officially ended due in part to the intervention of West African peacekeepers from the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group, and Taylor won that year's general election. Once in office, Taylor used the AFL to persecute his former enemies, including Blahyi, who fled to Ghana in 1999 and lived in a refugee camp. There, he learnt to read and write, studied the Bible and began delivering sermons, founding the "End Time Train Evangelistic Ministries" in the same year. Taylor stepped down as president in August 2003, which brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War fought by rebels against Taylor's administration.

In 2007, Blahyi founded "Journeys Against Violence" (JAV), a non-governmental rehabilitation programme intended for young men who were veterans of the Naked Base Commandos and other militia units. Many of the programme's employees were Blahyi's family members: his half brother Ernest Nelson worked as JAV's supervisor, Blahyi's mother was employed as its cook and one of the programme's drivers was his cousin. JAV at some point rented a house in the Monrovia suburb of Chocolate City as a residence for those who had joined its programme, and a series of "Ten Commandments" were drawn up for them, including abstaining from drugs, alcohol, sex and fighting along with participating in daily prayers. Activities for JAV's enrollees, who as of 2017 numbered 48 individuals, have included driving lessons, farming and bricklaying.

In January 2008, Blahyi returned to Monrovia and became the first Liberian warlord to testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which had been established by the government of Liberia in 2003 to investigate atrocities committed during the Liberian civil wars. Most of the former Liberian warlords who had been called on to testify by the commission, including Taylor and former INFPL leader Prince Johnson, had refused to do so, leading Blahyi to stand out. During his testimony, which was broadcast live on television in Liberia, Blahyi recounted his alleged wartime actions and atrocities. A report published by the commission in 2009 recommended 38 people for prosecutorial amnesty, including Blahyi. Most of the report's recommendations have not been implemented, and such a decision is unpopular among large segments of the Liberian public.

The testimony, which became front-page news in Liberia, resulted in Blahyi achieving global fame. The Liberian public's reaction to his testimony was mixed: while many condemned his actions and perceived his turn to street preaching and founding of JAV as a cynical attempt to avoid prosecution, others forgave him either due to their Christian beliefs or because they thought it was "the only way forward for the country". As he was the only warlord to testify, Blahyi's public contrition "satisfied a deep need" and launched his career as a showman. In the aftermath of his testimony, he was interviewed by journalists around the world and featured in a 2010 Vice News travel documentary titled "The Vice Guide to Liberia", which has been viewed millions of times on YouTube. Several American evangelicals who viewed the documentary subsequently contacted Blahyi and supplied funds to JAV, along with helping to publish his autobiography.

Later life

In 2016, Blahyi claimed in an interview with ''Reuters'' that JAV had helped train approximately 1,000 former combatants and street children in activities such as farming and bricklaying since it was founded, but had been hamstrung by a lack of funds. His request for a donation of 500,000 dollars was met with criticism by segments of the Liberian public, though the head official of Liberia's National Human Rights Commission informed ''Reuters'' that as JAV was "intended to help young people", Liberian authorities "should encourage him to continue". In the same year, journalist Damon Tabor investigated JAV for ''The New Yorker'', and was told by an enrollee that Blahyi was embezzling the programme's funds, mistreated JAV's enrollees and used them as props for Western reporters. Blahyi denied the allegations, though he did admit to reneging on some of the promises made to enrollees, but justified it by stating: "The nrolleesare very young... I know what is good for them."

Blahyi has repeatedly argued for the establishment of a war crimes trial to try former combatants such as himself. In May 2024, President Joseph Boakai passed an executive order to establish a war crimes court for such a purpose, though as of April 2025 no such court has been actually established. In February 2025, Blahyi, who had been undergoing treatment at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center due to complications with his kidneys, was transferred to Kenya for advanced care. Liberian newspaper ''The New Dawn'' noted that Blahyi's medical complications mirrored similar issues faced by other former Liberian warlords, including Prince Johnson, who died on 28 November 2024 at a hospital in Paynesville. These have sparked concerns among the Liberian public, some of whom have suggested that Blahyi's health issues and move to Kenya are intended to help him evade justice if Boakai's administration actually establishes a war crimes court.

In popular culture

Blahyi's has been featured in several documentaries. In addition to the 2010 Vice News documentary, Blahyi was also featured in a 2011 documentary titled "The Redemption of General Butt Naked", which was screened at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The documentary received mostly positive reviews; a review in ''The Hollywood Reporter'' praised the documentary for foregoing "any personal judgments to let audiences draw their own conclusions". Another review in ''Screen International'' was also positive, praising the documentary's depiction of the impact of Liberia's civil wars as "staggeringly cinematic" and calling it "one of the best titles since John Waters's '' Pecker''" with "bravura visual flourishes". However, a review in '' Indiewire'' argued that in spite of the documentary's "skillful navigation of Blahyi's controversial freedom", it "lacks enough voices of dissent... it takes little scrutiny to realize his fate is not that simple."

''The Book of Mormon'', a 2011 satirical musical comedy written by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone, features a character named "General Butt Fucking Naked"; the character is depicted in the musical as a Ugandan warlord, as he was originally modelled after infamous Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander Joseph Kony. The character serves as the main antagonist of the plot and is shown committing atrocities such as female genital mutilation and the summary execution of protestors. Stone noted in an interview with '' ComingSoon.net'' that "warlords in Liberia have such colorful names and we were reading about the one named General Butt Naked. We just ripped off his joke, basically." Parker added in the same interview: "We were like, "What's better than Butt Naked? Butt F–ing Naked!"

See also

* List of incidents of cannibalism

References

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1971 births
20th-century Liberian people
21st-century Liberian people
African warlords
Cannibals
Child sacrifice
Converts to evangelical Christianity
Converts to Protestantism from pagan religions
Krahn people
Liberian evangelicals
Liberian mass murderers
Liberian philanthropists
Liberian rebels
Liberian religious leaders
Liberian war criminals
Living people
Nudity