The Minister for Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, says over 13,000 terrorists have been killed, with 17,000 others arrested since the inauguration of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Idris gave the figures on Friday evening, during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
The minister’s remarks followed a recent hearing by the United States House Subcommittee on Africa, over Nigeria’s redesignation as a ‘Country of Particular Concern,’ following allegations of Christian genocide in the country.
During the hearing, Representative Bill Huizenga had accused the Tinubu government of downplaying the killings, noting the failure to confront repeated, persistent attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria.
In his response, Idris stated that the administration had recorded successes in the fight against terrorism and was making “a lot of progress in that direction.”
“I think sometimes, we forget about some of the successes that we have recorded in the fight against these bandits, criminals, and some of these jihadists.
“We’ve had a lot of progress in that direction. From May of 2023 to date, over 13,500 of these criminals – these are figures from the security agencies – have been neutralised, or taken out of our society.
“Over 17,000 have been apprehended. Many of them, even as we speak today, some of them have had their days in court, some of them have been sentenced,” he said.
The minister further argued that the President was “deeply saddened” by the killings in the country, adding that no one should lose their lives regardless of their faith.
“The President is deeply saddened. The administration is generally deeply saddened. We don’t need to have a situation where anybody, for that matter, is killed, whether he’s Christian or Muslim. That is one.
“Wherever that person may be, it’s not good for our country, it’s not good for anybody. No one should be happy that anybody is losing their life for no just reason,” Idris said.
He, however, argued against the “characterisation” of the crisis as being targeted against one religious group, adding that the government acknowledged that there were killings across the country.
“Do we have people killed? Yes. Is it a good thing? No. Is the government doing anything about it? Quite a lot.
“But there is something very fundamental that we all need to talk about. And that is the designation or the perception in some form, some quarters that there is what is called religious genocide in Nigeria.
“No, there isn’t. What we are seeing is that people are being killed, Christians are being killed in some parts, just as Muslims are being killed. It’s a sad one. No one should be happy for that,” he stated.