Political commentator, author, and social media influencer Reno Omokri has dismissed claims by US Senator Ted Cruz that the Nigerian government is supporting terrorism and facilitating a “Christian genocide,” describing the allegation as “ludicrous and based on misinformation.”
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Monday, Omokri said he invited two prominent Americans — Mike Arnold, the Republican Mayor of Blanco, Texas, and Jeff Gibbs, a filmmaker — on a fact-finding mission to Nigeria to help correct the false narrative circulating in the United States.
“When Senator Ted Cruz began this tale about a Christian genocide, and Governor Greg Abbott followed along with Congressman Chip Roy, I felt it was my patriotic duty to reach out to Republican officials who genuinely want to know the truth,” Omokri said.
“So I invited Mayor Mike Arnold, who is personally friends with Senator Cruz and Governor Abbott, and filmmaker Jeff Gibbs to Nigeria for a fact-finding visit. Before coming, they briefed Senator Cruz and Congressman Roy. They’ve now met with the leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), as well as visited IDP camps to see the reality for themselves.”
Omokri said that while killings of Christians have occurred in parts of the country, it is misleading to label the situation a genocide, as both Christians and Muslims have been victims of terrorism.
“Yes, there are killings of Christians in Nigeria, and anyone who denies that would be dishonest. But there are also killings of Muslims. We recently had killings at mosques in Katsina and Zamfara. When terrorists attack Benue, most of the victims are Christians because Benue is Christian-dominated; when they hit Zamfara, most victims are Muslims. So there is no Christian genocide,” he stated.
The commentator stressed that the root of Nigeria’s insecurity lies not in religious persecution but in the aftermath of Western intervention in Libya in 2011.
“These terrorist groups have an agenda against secularity. Nigeria is a secular nation, and they oppose that,” Omokri explained.
“This crisis began when the Obama administration intervened in Libya. Gaddafi had a foreign legionnaire army — mercenaries who, after his fall, spread across the Sahel with weapons and training. They destabilised the region, toppling governments from Burkina Faso to Mali and Niger. Now they are trying to do the same in Nigeria. This is not about Christianity or Islam; it’s a war against secularity.”
Omokri also blamed US foreign policy for worsening Nigeria’s security crisis, arguing that Washington bears a “moral responsibility” to help fix the problem it helped create.
“There is a moral responsibility on the United States because this problem was brought to Nigeria’s doorstep by the Obama administration. If Gaddafi had not been toppled, Boko Haram would not have become violent,” he said.
“Under Obama, the US invoked the Leahy Law to deny Nigeria weapons, forcing us to buy arms on the black market. We are paying the price for a problem we did not cause. Thank God for President Trump, who lifted those restrictions and began selling weapons to us. The US caused this problem and they need to help us fix it.”
The fact-finding team, led by Mayor Arnold, will brief American policymakers upon their return to the United States. Omokri said the goal is to ensure that calls to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” are dropped.
“If Nigeria is designated as a country of particular concern, it will only embolden terrorists and punish ordinary Nigerians — both Christians and Muslims — the very people Senator Ted Cruz claims he wants to help,” he said.
A press conference, scheduled for Tuesday in Abuja, is expected to feature the delegation alongside international media outlets including Reuters and Bloomberg.
“By the end of this mission, the world will see that Nigeria does not have a policy of religious persecution. The victims are on both sides, and the goal now is to correct the false narrative in America,” Omokri concluded.
Boluwatife Enome
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