The federal government has refuted the allegations by some international platforms suggesting that terrorists operating in Nigeria are engaged in a systematic genocide against Christians, saying the claims are false, baseless, despicable and divisive.
Allegations of genocide against Christians in Nigeria have persisted for years, particularly from international advocacy groups, religious organisations, and some Western media outlets.
These claims focus on violent attacks by terrorist groups such as Boko Haram as well as conflicts involving pastoralists, which they claimed have disproportionately impacted Christian communities in the Middle Belt and northern regions.
The Catholic Register, a Canadian Catholic publication, claimed in a report last week that a Christian genocide is taking place in Nigeria.
Similarly, a recent U.S. Department of State report on religious freedom in Nigeria claimed that terrorist groups continued targeting religious sites, including churches, and that Christians were killed in disproportionately higher numbers in such attacks.
The International Christian Concern (ICC), a watchdog group, has documented a “dramatic rise in attacks against Christian communities” in Nigeria in 2025, detailing numerous killings, abductions, and the displacement of thousands of people.
However, some Muslim organisations have countered the claims, saying Muslims are also victims of attacks by terrorist groups.
In 2022, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) said that 32,000 Muslims were killed within three years in Nigeria.
Prof Ishaq Akintola, the director of the organisation, spoke at a media briefing in Lagos in reaction to the request by five US senators for Antony Blinken, the then US Secretary of State, to re-designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern (CPC).
In December 2020, the US listed Nigeria among countries blacklisted for “violating religious freedom” under the CPC designation.
However, in November 2021, Nigeria was removed from the list.
Akintola said to claim that the federal government is failing to protect the religious freedom of Christian citizens is a “shameless attempt to upturn the facts of history”, adding that millions of Muslims have faced harassment in southern Nigeria.
He said, “Boko Haram in particular has killed, maimed and displaced more Muslims than Christians; more Muslim clerics and more Muslim traditional rulers have been killed or kidnapped than Christians.
“Most importantly, more Muslim majority states are under siege by these terrorists than Christian majority states, while more Nigerian Muslims have been impoverished by insecurity than Christians.”
Akintola challenged the US senators to provide the source of their claim that 4,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria as of 2021, adding that Christian leaders are simply capitalising on the enormity of the security challenge facing Nigeria.
“But the fact remains that 90% of the victims of Boko Haram and ISWAP are Muslims and the operations of these terrorist groups are mainly restricted to the North, where Muslims are the majority. Therefore, Muslims constitute the majority of the victims of violence in Nigeria. No data can dispute that even if it is from a satellite operating on Jupiter,” he said.
Akintola further said, “The reason killing of Christians appears more pronounced is due to the difference in burial culture. Nigerian Christians display bodies of their victims and may even delay their burial for days, if not months, while Muslims bury their victims almost immediately without any fuss. It is photo trick and camera magic that egg on emotions.
“Terrorists are destroying mosques and killing the Muslim worshippers inside in their hundreds. Yet Nigerian Christian leaders say only churches are being attacked. It is absolutely absurd and incomprehensible.”
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, in a statement on Sunday, said portraying Nigeria’s security challenges as a targeted campaign against a single religious group is a gross misrepresentation of reality.
“While Nigeria, like many countries, has faced security challenges, including acts of terrorism perpetrated by criminals, couching the situation as a deliberate, systematic attack on Christians is inaccurate and harmful.
“It oversimplifies a complex, multifaceted security environment and plays into the hands of terrorists and criminals who seek to divide Nigerians along religious or ethnic lines.
“The violent activities of terrorist groups are not confined to any particular religious or ethnic community. These criminals target all who reject their murderous ideology, regardless of faith. Muslims, Christians, and even those who do not identify with any religion have suffered at their hands,” the minister said.
He added that the federal government remains unwavering in its commitment to completely degrade terrorist groups and secure the lives and property of all citizens, and this resolve is already yielding results.
He said, “Between May 2023 and February 2025 alone, over 13,543 terrorists and criminals were neutralised and nearly 10,000 hostages rescued in multiple military operations across the country.
“These feats underscore the determination and success of our security forces and expose as unfounded the notion that Nigeria is passively tolerating religiously motivated terrorism.
“The federal government is steadfast in its duty to protect every Nigerian, regardless of ethnic or religious identity, and continues to work with international partners to address the global threat of terrorism.
“The Nigerian Armed Forces and Police have demonstrated their commitment to accountability by conducting several court martials and prosecutions to hold their officials accountable for any misconduct. This effort underscores the importance of discipline and adherence to the rule of law within our security agencies.
“We urge the international media and other commentators to act with responsibility and have respect for facts. All stakeholders are advised to avoid ignorance, sensationalism, and divisive rhetoric, and instead support Nigeria’s ongoing efforts in the fight against terrorism and all forms of criminality.”
By Al-mustapha A. Mustapha
