“The killing of Nigerians is a loss to the nation, not a government sanction,” the spokesperson told Al Jazeera.
Nigeria has said it welcomes aid from the United States in its fight against insurgents as long as its territorial integrity is respected, after US President Donald Trump threatened military action in the country over the country’s persecution of Christians.
In a social media post on Saturday, President Trump said he had asked the Pentagon to prepare for possible “swift” military action in Nigeria if Africa’s most populous country fails to crack down on “killings of Christians.”
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“We are not proud of the security situation we are experiencing, but to follow the narrative that only Christians are being targeted,” Kimyebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “No, that is not true. There is no genocide of Christians in Nigeria.”
“We have continually made our point clear that we recognize the fact that murders occur in Nigeria, but those murders were not limited to Christians,” he added.
Responding to claims that the Nigerian government authorized the commission of these killings, Mr. Imomotimi Ebienfa said, “These killings are not sanctioned by the Nigerian government. The Nigerian government seriously opposes it. The killing of any Nigerian in any part of the country is a loss to the country…The perpetrators of these killings are the terrorist organization Boko Haram and other al-Qaeda and (ISIL) SIS affiliates.” Perpetuate this crisis. ”
Daniel Bwala, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s president, told Reuters on Sunday that the country:Japan welcomes assistance from the United States as long as it recognizes its territorial integrity. ”
Bwala added: “By the time the two leaders meet and sit down, we will achieve better results in our joint determination to fight terrorism.”
In his post, President Trump said the United States would immediately cut off all aid to Nigeria “if the government continues to allow the murder of Christians.”
Earlier, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu pushed back against claims of religious intolerance and defended his country’s efforts to protect religious freedom.
“Since 2023, our administration has remained open and actively engaged with Christian and Muslim leaders alike to address security challenges that affect our people across faiths and regions,” Tinubu said in a statement.
“Characterizing Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect the reality of our country, nor does it take into account the government’s consistent and sincere efforts to protect the freedom of religion and belief of all Nigerians.”
Nigeria is a country with a population of over 200 million people, divided into the Muslim-dominated north and Christian-dominated south.
The armed conflict is mainly confined to the northeast of the country and has been going on for more than 15 years. Analysts said most of the victims were Muslims, although Christians were also killed.
“The massacre of Christians cannot be tolerated”
Human rights groups have called on the government to do more to address insecurity in the country, which has experienced deadly attacks by Boko Haram and other armed groups, but experts say claims of a “genocide of Christians” are false and short-sighted.
“All the data is clear that there is no genocide of Christians in Nigeria,” Bulama Bukarti, a Nigerian humanitarian lawyer and conflict and development analyst, told Al Jazeera. This is “dangerous far-right rhetoric that has been smoldering for a long time and is being amplified today by President Trump.”
Bukarti went on to explain that armed groups in Nigeria target both Muslims and Christians, adding: “This is divisive and will only lead to further instability in Nigeria.”
“They bomb markets, they bomb churches, they bomb mosques, they attack civilians anywhere they can find them. They do not discriminate between Muslims and Christians.”
Ebenezer Obadare, a senior fellow for African studies at the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Foreign Relations, agreed, saying the Trump administration should work with Nigerian authorities to deal with a “common enemy.”
“This is a time when Nigeria needs aid, especially military aid,” Obadare said. “The wrong thing to do is to invade Nigeria and override the authorities and the authority of the Nigerian government. That would be counterproductive.”
