The federal government on Tuesday restated that Nigeria was continuing to explore diplomatic channels to resolve Donald Trump’s threat of a military intervention in Nigeria’s internal security situation, stressing that the move was already yielding the required results.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told UK-based Sky News programme, The World With Yalda Hakim, that the data upon which the US government is acting cannot stand scientific scrutiny.
Idris maintained that the Nigerian Constitution enshrines religious freedom, stressing that Nigeria remains a multi-faith nation, with no room or tolerance for religious persecution. The security challenges the country is facing, he said, are being tackled with boldness and decisiveness.
Recently, President Trump made public statements accusing the Nigerian government of allowing widespread killings of Christians, especially in parts of the North and Middle Belt. He claimed that the situation amounted to religious persecution and noted that if the Nigerian government under President BolaTinubu did not act decisively to stop the attacks, the United States could consider military action.
He also talked about stopping aid and possibly conducting strikes or deploying forces against groups he described as “Islamic terrorists” in Nigeria.
However, Nigeria’s government has rejected Trump’s claims, insisting that the country is not persecuting Christians and that violence in Nigeria is driven by complex security factors, including banditry, insurgency, communal clashes, and criminal gangs. The nation argued that both Christians and Muslims are victims and that presenting the situation as one-sided is inaccurate and dangerous.
Besides, Nigeria emphasised that it is a sovereign state and would not tolerate any foreign military intervention, pointing out that security forces are already working to stabilise affected regions, noting that outside threats only inflame tensions.
But during the interview, the minister reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s assurance that diplomatic engagement is ongoing, pointing out that channels of communication had been opened between the Nigerian and US governments.
He expressed the belief that the US was getting a better understanding of the situation, arguing that the information being peddled was as a result of a lack of a proper understanding of Nigeria’s diversity and the complexity of the nation’s security situation.
Admitting that the US government has always supported Nigeria in the fight against terror, the minister urged the Trump-led nation to partner with it once again, to help defeat terrorism and extremism.
In the same vein, Idris stated that the international community must understand the peculiarities of the Nigerian situation, emphasising that the world should have a full understanding of the diversity and the complexity of Nigeria’s challenges.
He disclosed that the federal government has observed a direct connection between US lobbyists and a proscribed terrorist organisation in Nigeria, but said that diplomatic channels already opened were proving effective towards resolving the tense relationship between the US government and Nigeria.
According to him, the direct connection between the proscribed separatist elements and the US lobby groups was aimed at misinforming the US authorities.
The federal government, he said, was also surprised by some of the numbers coming from Washington and the stance of the United States on the issue, adding that the international community must understand the peculiarities of the Nigerian situation.
“What we want to put out is that the Nigerian government insists that some of these assumptions that you have put out are based on data that largely cannot stand any scientific scrutiny. Yes, we do have religious issues in Nigeria. Yes, we do have security issues, especially in the north-eastern part of the country, the northwest and the north central part of the country as well.
“People are being killed in the mosques, people are also being killed in churches. We agree on that,” the government spokesman maintained.
According to him, although Nigeria admits that it has challenges with security, it is being misconceived by the US, which it insisted has been fed with the wrong information. But he said that with the recent moves, the Trump administration was beginning to understand the situation better.
“Remember that when President Trump came into office the first time, I mean, he worked with Nigeria to ensure that some of these people perpetrating these crimes have been pushed away. And this helped us to recover some of the territories that were held by these terrorist organisations. So what we are saying is that we do recognise that Nigeria has security challenges all around, especially in the northern part of the country.
“But what we want the world to know is that the drivers of this conflict are diverse, as they are very complex, because we have economic issues, we have issues of land and we also have religious issues there.
“Very recently, even the Vatican Secretary of State also affirmed that, yes, indeed, there are conflicts. There are killings going on in Nigeria in many parts. But they are largely social issues that are responsible,” the minister added.
Idris maintained that the Nigerian government has not lost control of its territories, explaining that there was a time in the country when the terrorist organisations were in control of about 14 local governments in Borno state alone.
“I want you to go back in time. There was a time in the north-eastern part of the country when these terrorist organisations were in control of about 14 local governments in Borno state alone. That is no longer the case, because the Nigerian government has recovered all that territory. They don’t hold any territory as such.
“These are opportunistic fighters. They go into the bushes, come and do their attacks and then go back. But the Nigerian government is in full control. You have to know that this is not conventional warfare they are fighting. Sometimes they come into towns and villages and merge with the people who are going about their day-to-day activities. And so sometimes it is difficult to establish who is a terrorist and who is not.
“But when they are, where we find them, like in Sambisa Forest, in parts of the north-central part of Nigeria, in the northwestern part of Zamfara state, in Sokoto state, parts of Niger state, the Nigerian government, the Nigerian security forces are hunting them. They are going after them, killing them in numbers. I would say that since May of 2023, Nigerian security forces have eliminated over 13,500 of these terrorists.
“You know, about 17,000 of them have also been arrested and undergoing prosecution. We have not lost any territory. What we are saying is that, yes, indeed, we have these challenges. We need to work to understand that the diversity and the complexity of the situation is what we want the world to understand,” the minister stressed.
Idris argued that the numbers being bandied around about the killings had been investigated, pointing out that they just don’t add up. He maintained that the Tinubu-led administration will continue to protect minority groups in Nigeria.
“To begin with, Nigeria is a multi-faith country. Our constitution guarantees that everyone in Nigeria can practice Islam, and can also practice Christianity. And this is what the government is upholding. There is no religion that is favoured over the other. It is enshrined in our constitution.
“And this is what every administration, particularly the administration of President Bola Tinubu, has insisted, that this is a multi-faith country guaranteed by our constitution. And we have to continue to guarantee the safety of lives and property of people wherever they are. Any life lost, whether it’s a Christian or Muslim, any life lost is too many for our country,” the minister affirmed.
He confirmed that channels of communication have been opened with the US government, stressing that although the Meghan government was equally worried about killings in the country, they cut across all faiths.
“Certainly, channels of communication have been open. I can confirm that we are talking to them. And I think that they are understanding the situation better. We believe that most of this information is as a result of a lack of proper understanding and the diversity and the complexity of the situation that we have at hand.
“And let me also put out there, we are seeing a direct connection between these people you mentioned, the lobbyists and the people that are also talking to in the US. Some of these lobbyists have direct connection with (a) proscribed terrorist organisation in Nigeria. And we have seen how they have set up this lobby in the US and contacting people high up in the United States to help them to lobby for that. So you cannot rely on what a terrorist organisation is also saying.
“If a terrorist organisation is paying lobbyists to push their case, a Nigerian government will certainly not be happy with that. But what we are saying is that, yes, indeed, this situation is there. We have conflict in Nigeria. We have a situation in Nigeria. But in the past, the United States government has helped Nigerian authorities to deal with this situation. So we are calling on them to partner with us once again to help push this.
“And then we will have peace once and for all in our country. Nigeria and the United States are great partners, enjoying good relationship country to country. We are having a good relationship. So we feel sometimes surprised with some of these numbers coming from the United States and some of these towns taken by the administration. But for us, we want to tell the world that this is not the case.
“We also share the concern from the international community, including the United States, about some of these killings going on. We also are worried about some of these killings happening. But what we want at this point is understanding of the diversity and the complexity of the situation. And we want cooperation at the regional body, on the international level to help us to get rid of this menace of insecurity once and for all out of our country,” the minister pleaded.
Emmanuel Addeh, Olawale Ajimotokan
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