The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has countered claims circulating on international platforms and social media that Christians in the country are facing a systematic genocidal campaign, describing such allegations as false, dangerous, and aimed at destabilising the nation.
A United States lawmaker, Senator Ted Cruz, had accused Nigerian authorities of orchestrating genocide against Christians and allowing the destruction of thousands of churches.
Cruz, in an interview with Fox News Digital, alleged that more than 52,000 Christians had been killed in Nigeria since 2009, and over 20,000 churches and Christian schools had been destroyed.
He also announced the introduction of the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act in the U.S. Senate, a bill seeking sanctions against Nigerian officials he claimed were complicit in religious persecution.
Also, a statement by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, affirmed that many Christian communities in parts of the country, especially in the North, had suffered severe attacks, loss of life, and destruction of places of worship.
“Nigeria’s healing will not come from denial or blame, but from courage — the courage to face our collective failures, to grieve together, and to rebuild trust within our communities,” CAN stated.
However, in a statement on Friday by its Deputy National Legal Adviser, Imam Eze, and dated October 10, 2025, the NSCIA said the reports accusing the Federal Government of facilitating the mass murder of Christians were malicious and unfounded.
“It is common knowledge that the negative profiling that Nigeria currently suffers worldwide is largely the aftermath of the activities of some Nigerian citizens (now revealed as agents of the Christian Association of Nigeria) who have found a big business in self-flagellation,” the Council said.
The NSCIA expressed appreciation to government agencies and individuals who swiftly countered the allegations but urged the Federal Government to “go the whole hog by calling a spade a spade” and expose those behind what it described as false narratives.
“Without a shred of doubt, the world is aware that some political desperadoes and religious irredentists have been trying hard to plunge Nigeria into a religious war. During the buildup to the 2023 presidential election, a presidential candidate had actually, in a leaked audio recording, spoken to an Islamophobic religious leader, declaring the election a ‘religious war,’” the statement said.
The Council rejected the notion that terrorist groups in Nigeria specifically target Christians, citing official reports showing that both Muslims and Christians have been victims of violent attacks.
“Importuning that terrorist groups, whose religious identities are conflated, are carrying out attacks against Christians alone in Nigeria is plainly mendacious. The U.S. State Department’s 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom states that terrorists, bandits, and armed criminal groups target mosques and churches indiscriminately. In the first half of 2025 alone, terrorists and bandits reportedly killed at least 2,266 civilians across Northern Nigeria, where Muslims are predominant, leaving over two million people displaced,” the Council noted.
The NSCIA accused some religious leaders of spreading “odious falsehoods” to gain foreign sympathy and funding, referencing statements made by Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi and Rev. Joseph Hayab, Chairman of the Northern Christian Association of Nigeria.
“Council is extremely concerned that no mention or condemnation of these false and odious statements was made by the Federal Government. A popular television station even allotted airtime to Rev. Hayab to restate the false narrative that Christians are being persecuted across Nigeria,” the group lamented.
While the Council praised a CAN official who acknowledged that both Muslims and Christians are victims of insurgency, it criticised the CAN President’s “false proclamations,” which it said revealed the association’s role in spreading misleading reports.
“When the Chiefs of Defence and Army were Muslims, the complaint from CAN was that both were complicit. But now that all service chiefs, except one, are Christians, another culprit has to be created by CAN to malign Islam and the Muslims,” the NSCIA said.
It further claimed that the anti-Muslim narrative was being used to exert political pressure and secure disproportionate dominance in government.
“The presidency asserted in May 2025 that 62 per cent of presidential appointees are Christians in a country where Muslims are preponderant, without a whimper from the Council,” the statement added. “The propaganda around the Muslim-Muslim ticket is being successfully used to blackmail and extort the Federal Government to the detriment of the Muslims.”
The Council also faulted the National Insurance Commission for issuing a circular that prohibits co-insurance between conventional insurers and Takaful operators, describing the move as divisive and inconsistent with the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act.
“This circular of exclusivity violates the NIIRA 2025 and is intended to further create a divide between Muslims and non-Muslims in the country,” the Council stated.
Reaffirming its commitment to a united Nigeria, the NSCIA said it would continue to pursue peace and coexistence despite what it termed persistent provocations.
“Council strongly believes in one and indivisible Nigeria, and it shall continue to work to preserve this ideal even in the face of the greatest provocation,” the statement read.
Credit- Punch
