March 14, 2025
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf M. Tuggar, has refuted the United States Congress claims that Nigerians account for 90 percent of Christians killed worldwide each year, describing it as misleading and aimed at influencing foreign governments to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
In a statement on Friday signed by the acting spokesperson, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, the ministry stated that while the Federal Government acknowledges the security challenges in the country, these incidents are not religiously motivated or targeted at any particular faith group.
It emphasized that insurgency and banditry in the predominantly Muslim northern region of Nigeria are not directed at any specific religious community.
The United States Congress has given President Donald Trump the green light to impose severe sanctions on Nigeria following reports that Nigerians account for 90 percent of Christians killed worldwide each year.
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Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Chris Smith, announced the decision after a congressional hearing on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
The session featured testimonies, including that of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi, who described militant Fulani herdsmen as terrorists operating with impunity.
Smith criticized the Nigerian government for failing to protect Christians, citing a report by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa, which documented over 55,000 killings and 21,000 abductions linked to religious violence between 2019 and 2023.
However, the Nigerian government has consistently refuted such claims, asserting that the security challenges are complex and not rooted in religious persecution.
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The ministry noted that Nigeria is a multiethnic and multireligious nation with a long history of peaceful coexistence between people of different faiths. It reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protecting all citizens, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or gender.
It further explained that the ongoing security challenges stem from criminality, terrorism, and communal clashes, particularly conflicts between farmers and herders, which have been exacerbated by climate change, population growth, and competition over land resources.
These issues, the statement emphasized, do not amount to systematic religious persecution.
