Haiti’s most powerful warlord has called for an escalation in the gang violence against the interim government after it moved to oust the prime minister.

The transitional council, a temporary body charged with organising the Caribbean nation’s first elections in a decade in 2026, announced it was dismissing Garry Conille as prime minister on Friday.

Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, leader of the Vivre Ensemble gang alliance that controls much of Port-au-Prince, the capital, responded on Sunday with a video in which he called on residents to stay at home to avoid the bloodshed.

“The time for monitoring [the political situation] by the gangs of Vivre Ensemble is over,” said Cherizier, the target of both UN and US sanctions for his alleged human rights abuses. 

“The time has come to take the destiny of this country into our own hands.”

Cherizier, a 47-year-old former police officer, allegedly gained his nickname from his habit of setting fire to his opponents’ homes while they are still inside.