A former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, and President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, have dismissed as claims by American television host Bill Maher that Nigeria is experiencing systemic killings of Christians.
The two Nigerian political leaders said the allegations misrepresent the country’s security situation, risk inflaming religious tensions, and undermine the progress of ongoing counterterrorism efforts.
In a viral video clip, Maher alleged that Islamist groups in Nigeria were behind widespread killings and church burnings over the past decade.
“They are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over 100,000 since 2009, they’ve burned 18,000 churches.
“This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza.
“They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country,” Maher said.
Reacting on X on Sunday, Fani-Kayode described the claims as “disinformation” and part of an orchestrated campaign to malign Nigeria internationally.
He alleged that foreign media were exploiting religious narratives to punish Nigeria for its diplomatic positions, particularly on the conflict in Gaza.
“The allegation by top American television host Bill Maher and American Radio Genoa that 500,000 Christians were murdered by Muslims in Nigeria in the last one year is false.
“It is disinformation that has been pushed out by the Jewish controlled media in America as payback for our position against the genocide in Gaza,” Fani-Kayode wrote.
The former minister warned that such claims could justify external interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs.
“We should expect more of this sort of disinformation from the American media because they want to divide us on religious lines, malign us as Christian-haters before the world and give Trump a reason to call us out and not only sanction but also destabilise and terrorise our country,” he said.
Fani-Kayode also stressed that terrorism in Nigeria is indiscriminate and should not be mischaracterised as a religious war.
“These terrorists make no distinction when it comes to religious faith when they kill our people.
“They are attempting to kill us ALL, whether Christian or Muslim, and we are also fighting back and resisting them as one and in one accord,” he wrote.
He added that Nigeria would not bow to external attempts to sow division, saying,”Nigeria is not Palestine and neither are we cowards.
“We cannot be divided, intimidated, bullied, destroyed or subjected to the same treatment as Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq or Gaza.”
Separately, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, criticised Maher for misrepresenting Nigeria’s security challenges and spreading falsehoods.
“Dear @billmaher, I’m a big fan of your show. However, I was shocked to come across a video clip where you made false claims of systemic killings of Christians or genocide against Christians in Nigeria,” he wrote.
Olusegun said the conflict in Nigeria cannot be reduced to religion, pointing out that the attacks have targeted both Christians and Muslims.
“The simple truth and the verifiable reality is that there is NO SYSTEMATIC KILLING of Christians in any part of Nigeria and certainly there is no attempt to wipe out Christians in Nigeria either.
“These claims are very dangerous falsehoods, even though they are not entirely new narratives always pushed by western forces,” Olusegun stated.
He added that the Nigerian constitution guarantees religious freedom and highlighted President Tinubu’s interfaith household as a model of tolerance.
“Nigeria practices and preaches religious tolerance,” Olusegun wrote, noting that the President, a Muslim, is married to a Christian pastor.
The aide insisted that framing Nigeria’s security crisis as a religious war is misleading and dangerous.
“The victims of insurgents and extremists in Nigeria include both Christians and Muslims.
“Boko Haram and its splinter groups do not represent Islam and have consistently been opposed by Islamic leaders in the country,” Olusegun said. (Punch)
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