By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief & Joseph Erunke
The Federal Government has rejected claims of Christian genocide in Nigeria, describing the allegation as false and damaging to the country’s image.
While the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, demanded the full and unedited airing of his recent interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, saying selective editing could distort Nigeria’s image and fuel “misleading narratives and allegations of religious persecution.,’’ his counterpart in Information and National Orientation Ministry, Mohammed Idris, said there was guaranteed religious freedom in Nigeria.
This is even as African Union declared that there was no genocide in Nigeria’s volatile North, as the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, urged the US President, Donald Trump, to partner with his Nigerian counterpart, Bola Tinubu, in addressing the nation’s security challenges, rather than resorting to threats of military intervention.
Both ministers spoke in reaction to allegation of genocide against Christians by US President, Trump, who has threatened military action in Nigeria, should the federal government fail to eliminate terrorists and bandits killing people in the country.
Tuggar in a post shared on X on Wednesday, said he appeared on Piers Morgan’s flagship programme to offer a factual and balanced response to claims about religious freedoms in Nigeria.
What I said at Piers Morgans interview
He said his submissions during the interview were supported by verifiable data, even if they did not align with certain preconceived opinions.
The minister insisted that transparency required the broadcast of the entire exchange “exactly as recorded.”
“I appeared on @piersmorgan’s flagship programme, @PiersUncensored, where I presented a factual and contextual perspective on the misleading narratives and allegations of religious persecution in Nigeria.
“My explanations, supported by verifiable data, may not have conformed to certain preconceived views.
“However, for the sake of integrity and transparency, it is essential that the full interview be aired exactly as recorded, without edits or selective omissions. Nigeria’s truth must not be distorted to fit external biases,” he wrote.
Tuggar, who recently met with his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, in Berlin, reaffirmed that it was “impossible” for the Nigerian government to persecute any citizen on religious grounds.
He said Nigeria’s constitution guaranteed freedom of religion and upholds the rule of law, making any state-backed discrimination “unthinkable.”
No religious persecution in Nigeria — Idris
On his part, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while also dismissing claims that Nigeria violated religious freedom, described them as false and damaging to the country’s image.
Speaking at the 5th National Advertising Conference in Abuja yesterday, Idris said such claims distorted the reality of Nigeria’s diversity.
“Distinguished participants, our nation today faces challenges that are not only economic or security-related but also communication.
“One of the gravest of these is the deliberate spread of misinformation, particularly the false and damaging narrative of Nigeria as a ‘violator of religious freedom.’
“Let me state clearly and emphatically that this narrative is false. It is a distortion of our reality as a nation of diverse peoples and faiths who have lived together peacefully for generations,” he explained.
The minister noted that while Nigeria faced security challenges, the problems were not religiously motivated.
All religions facing terror attacks
“All Nigerians, Christians, Muslims and people of other faiths, have suffered from the menace of terrorism and banditry,” he said.
Idris told participants that the present administration was investing in security and reorganising its structures to combat terrorism.
He said: “We have invested deeply in strengthening our security architecture, rejigging the command and control structure, and injecting new ideas and fresh perspectives into the war against terror.’’
Idris urged professionals in marketing and advertising to play a role in promoting accurate narratives about Nigeria.
“You are not only storytellers for brands and businesses, you are also custodians of national perception and image.
“When false narratives about Nigeria are spread, especially internationally, it is your creativity, strategy, and storytelling that can counterbalance them with truth, context and compelling narratives of hope and progress,” the minister explained.
He said communication professionals have a responsibility to emphasise truth and unity in their work.
“We need a communication renaissance — one that emphasises facts over fear, unity over division, and truth over propaganda,” he said.
No genocide in northern Nigeria, says African Union
Reviewing the situation yesterday, the chair of African Union Commission, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, said there was no genocide in Nigeria’s volatile north.
Speaking at a briefing in New York, Youssouf said: “The complexity of the situation in northern Nigeria should push us to think twice before making such statements.
“The first victims of Boko Haram (the most prominent jihadist group in the region) are Muslims, not Christians.”
Recall that the Boko Haram jihadist insurgency, active since 2009, has killed more than 40,000 people and forced more than two million to flee their homes, according to UN figures.
“The first victims of Boko Haram are Muslims, not Christians,” Mahamoud Ali Youssouf also stated.
PFN asks Trump to support Tinubu against insecurity
Reacting to Trump’s threat to take military actions in Nigeria to wipe out terrorists and bandits, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria asked the US governmen t to assist Nigeria to deal with the terrorists causing trouble in the country.
PFN’s President, Wale Oke, who made the call in an interview on Channels Television yesterday, said:
“Whatever needs to be done should be done to stop the killings. The life of every Nigerian is precious, and the targeted attacks against the church should stop.
‘’If the President [Bola Tinubu] wants to ask for training in counter-terrorism, or wherever they know that America has expertise, let them ask for it.
“For us, we do not want an American invasion of Nigeria. We want Donald Trump to work with our President and hold him accountable to stop the targeted killing and kidnapping of our members. That is what we want.”
Asking the federal government to stop the killings across the country, Oke said: “We don’t want revenge, like I said. But we want an end to killings. We want every Nigerian, whether Muslims or Christians, to be able to live freely, work freely and practice their religion freely anywhere in Nigeria.’’
Trump echoed what Nigerians of good conscience have been saying — Obi
Also reviewing the situation yesterday, former governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of Labour Party in 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, yesterday, said the anger against the President of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump, for describing Nigeria as a “disgraced nation” was unnecessary because he only echoed what Nigerians of good conscience had been saying.
Obi, who spoke on the second day of the 21st All Nigeria Editors Conference, with the theme: Democrac, Governance and National Cohesion, in Abuja, said: “Our country, Nigeria, stands today at a most critical crossroads. Just two weeks ago, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, made a comment on social media referring to Nigeria as a ‘now disgraced country.’
“He singled out the killings in our land without compunction, but in truth, he was merely echoing what many Nigerians of good conscience have been saying for years, often at the risk of being accused of de-marketing their own country. The reality is stark: Nigeria is facing existential challenges that demand our sober reflection.”
Genocide debate unnecessary, people are being killed
He said the debate over Christian genocide was not necessary because people were being killed.
Obi said: “For many, the immediate reaction was to debate whether there is genocide in Nigeria or not. But that is not the central question. The questions we should ask ourselves are far deeper: are there killings, whether genocide or not? Why the word disgraced?
‘’Is it only the killings, or the culture of impunity that allows them to persist? Is it the insecurity that haunts our citizens, or the failure of leadership to protect them?
“These are the questions that should trouble every Nigerian. They force us to look inward and confront the uncomfortable truth, that our disgrace is not defined by what others say, but by what we allow to persist in our society.
“If the answers are painful, and they are, then rather than take offence, we should search for the reasons and begin to confront them with honesty and courage. That, for me, is the true path to national restoration.”
How we became disgraced nation
He said the country was, indeed, “disgraced”, given the realities on the ground, noting that “we are disgraced not merely because of what others say, but because of what we have allowed ourselves to become.
‘’Today, over 130 million Nigerians live in poverty; millions more struggle daily to afford basic necessities, while over 20 million children are denied the right to education—the chance to learn, grow, and contribute to their nation’s future.
“We have surpassed India and China in infant mortality, even though our population is less than a tenth of theirs. We are now counted among the most insecure, hungriest nations, and among the worst places to be born.
“With the highest youth unemployment rate and widespread corruption, foreign leaders have justly described us as “fantastically corrupt.”
We musn’t lose faith
The former governor said that current challenges in the country, notwithstanding, Nigerians must not lose faith as the country remained recoverable.
“Even in the face of such grim realities, we must not lose faith in our capacity to rebuild,” he said.
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