The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, on Sunday, dismissed the allegation of Christian genocide in Nigeria, describing it as false, dangerous, and politically motivated.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, the NSCIA’s Secretary-General, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, accused the Western media and political figures of trumpeting the allegation of Christian genocide as part of an alleged coordinated campaign to destabilise Nigeria.
But the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Wale Oke, insisted that, “There is Christian genocide in Nigeria.”
“There is no other name to call it. No Christian group is attacking Muslims. Patience of the church is being stretched,” Oke said during a visit to the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, at the weekend.
The debate comes in the wake of Nigeria’s designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” by the United States President Donald Trump.
In a series of posts on X between October 31 and November 1, Trump had condemned continued killings in Nigeria, declaring America’s readiness to send its military to Nigeria if the Federal Government failed to stop the killings by jihadist groups.
But addressing the press in Abuja on Sunday, the NSCIA maintained that the violence in parts of the country was driven by criminality, poverty, and climate-induced migration, not religious persecution.
