Nigerian Christian and Muslim Leaders Reject U.S. Claim of Genocide Against Christians

In a rare show of unity within Nigeria’s multi-religious and multi-ethnic society, leaders of the Christian and Muslim communities on Monday jointly rejected claims by some prominent United States officials that there is an ongoing genocide against Christians in Nigeria. Both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and key Islamic organizations such as the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) and the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) described the U.S. claims as misleading, exaggerated, and dangerous to Nigeria’s fragile national unity.

The controversy began after U.S. officials, including former Mayor of Blanco, Mike Arnold—a campaigner for religious freedom and associate of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz—suggested that Christians in Nigeria were being systematically targeted in what they described as a “genocide.” However, both Christian and Muslim leaders in Nigeria strongly disagreed, arguing that the violence ravaging parts of the country is driven more by criminality, poverty, and political manipulation than by religious persecution.

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According to the Northern CAN Chairman, Reverend Joseph Hayab, the narrative of genocide against Christians is inaccurate and unhelpful. While acknowledging that many Christians have been victims of terrorist attacks, he insisted that the violence now affects Nigerians of all faiths. “These terrorists, when they started, moved beyond killing Christians and began attacking everyone. They have continued like that,” he explained. Hayab further noted that the security situation in many parts of the country, including Kaduna State, has improved in recent times. “Between 2016 and 2023, I was burying 20 to 50 people per week, but in the last 16 months, I have not buried anyone apart from those who died naturally,” he said, highlighting government efforts to curb insecurity.

Reverend Hayab also cautioned against U.S. proposals to list Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” saying such an action could worsen the crisis. “When you put Nigeria on that list, you are telling terrorists to go ahead and destroy us because our military will be denied access to arms. This will hurt the same people you claim to protect,” he warned. He emphasized that while killings have undoubtedly occurred, labeling them as genocide misrepresents the situation. “Terrorists even kill Muslims who refuse to support their extremism,” he said, citing recent attacks on mosques in Katsina State as evidence that no religion is spared.

Supporting this perspective, Professor Aliyu Abubakar, the Secretary General of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), said it was shocking that American officials reached such conclusions without consulting Nigerian religious leaders. “The U.S., a country that values freedom and democracy, should have listened to all sides before making such a declaration,” he stated. Abubakar stressed that the ongoing violence is criminal, not religious. “Crime is crime. It has no religion, no colour, no boundary,” he asserted.

Echoing this, Professor Isa Pantami, a former Minister of Communications and an Islamic scholar, shared his personal experience with extremist groups. He revealed that Boko Haram had once placed him on a list of Islamic scholars to be assassinated because of his opposition to their ideology. “If they were truly fighting for Islam, why would they threaten to kill me on BBC for challenging their un-Islamic ideology?” he asked. Pantami noted that many respected Islamic scholars such as Sheikh Jafar and Sheikh Albani had been murdered by extremists, proving that the violence is not religiously motivated. “This criminality affects Muslims, Christians, and others alike. There is no justification for anyone to claim that it represents an ideology,” he added.

Similarly, Professor Ishaq Akintola, Director of MURIC, dismissed the genocide claim as “misinformation and disinformation.” He explained that the conflicts often labeled as religious are actually economic and social crises driven by poverty and unemployment. “People are hungry and desperate. The idle hand, they say, is the devil’s workshop,” he remarked. Akintola pointed out that much of the violence in the North Central region, particularly in Benue and Plateau States, is rooted in long-standing ethnic clashes between farmers and herders, not religious hatred.

During the meeting, convened by public commentator Reno Omokri, both Christian and Muslim leaders emphasized the importance of unity and factual reporting. Omokri explained that the U.S. officials had been invited to Nigeria to get firsthand information rather than relying on secondhand reports. He stressed that Nigerians were offended by the claim of genocide, seeing it as a misrepresentation that could harm the country’s international image and worsen tensions. “Many Nigerians believe these claims are part of a plan to undermine the country, especially after the Vice President’s speech at the United Nations about the Gaza crisis,” Omokri said.

Omokri clarified that the American officials, including Mike Arnold, were not ill-intentioned but lacked a full understanding of Nigeria’s complex situation. “Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Greg Abbott are not bad people. They mean well but do not understand the realities here,” he said. To help them understand, Omokri invited Arnold and an American filmmaker, Jeff Gibbs, to visit internally displaced persons (IDP) camps across Nigeria. After their visits, both men reportedly observed that the victims of violence include people of all faiths.

Arnold, while speaking to the press, acknowledged that both Christians and Muslims were affected by terrorism. “In Christian-majority areas, Christians suffer more; in Muslim-majority areas, Muslims suffer more. Both communities are victims,” he said. He described the stories of displaced families as heartbreaking, noting that many of them—whether Christian or Muslim—had lost everything and were living in dire conditions.

Filmmaker Jeff Gibbs echoed this observation, explaining that the IDP camps they visited reflected Nigeria’s religious diversity. “One camp is almost entirely Christian, while another in Durumi is mostly Muslim,” he said. Gibbs decried the suffering of the displaced and called for greater international support for Nigeria’s humanitarian crisis.

The joint rejection of the U.S. genocide claim by Nigeria’s leading Christian and Muslim bodies represents a rare moment of interfaith consensus in a country often portrayed as deeply divided along religious lines. Both sides agreed that while violence and terrorism remain serious challenges, they are rooted in broader issues such as poverty, unemployment, corruption, and weak governance, rather than in a deliberate campaign against any faith group.

In conclusion, religious leaders urged both local and international observers to approach Nigeria’s security crisis with nuance and empathy. They called for global partnerships that focus on strengthening the economy, addressing youth unemployment, and promoting dialogue among communities instead of amplifying religious divisions. Their collective message was clear: Nigeria’s violence is a national tragedy, not a religious war, and the solution lies in unity, understanding, and cooperation—not in external labels or simplistic narratives.