The Presidency has dismissed as “malicious and contrived lies” a claim by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz that Nigerian officials are ignoring and even facilitating the mass killing of Christians.
Cruz had alleged that Islamist extremists were carrying out “mass murder of Christians” in Nigeria with the complicity of state officials. “Officials in Nigeria are ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists,” he wrote on X, adding that his proposed Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would impose sanctions on those responsible.
Reacting through Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, the Presidency said Nigeria is not experiencing a religious war and that terrorists and bandits attack indiscriminately.
“Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country. We do not have a religious war in Nigeria,” Onanuga wrote on X. “The degraded Boko Haram terrorists in the North East target everyone — they attack farmers, soldiers, and civilians. Bandits in the North West kill worshippers in their mosques. Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country. Stop these lies.”
President Tinubu, speaking in Owerri on Tuesday, also rejected the allegations of religious genocide, describing them as baseless. He said Nigeria remains a nation founded on faith and unity, adding that after 65 years of independence, Nigerians have learned to value their cultural and religious diversity.
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