A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has challenged members of the USA Congress to publicly determine Nigerians allegedly sponsoring terror assaults which have led to claims of genocide in opposition to Christians.
Mr Omokri made the decision throughout a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, which additionally featured Mike Arnold, a former mayor of Blanco, Texas, and founding father of Africa Come up Worldwide.
He faulted the declare, insisting that the violent incidents in Nigeria don’t represent genocide in opposition to Christians.
“So saying that there’s a genocide in Nigeria is like saying that in the USA yearly, one thing like 30,000, near 30,000 individuals are murdered disproportionately, they’re black folks. Can we in Nigeria now begin to use our media energy and say there’s a genocide in opposition to black folks in America?
“Then that’s the identical factor as coming to say that there’s a genocide in opposition to Christians right here and that it’s being facilitated by the Nigerian state. It’s not true. However for those who assume it’s true, don’t simply come and simply make accusations. Title names, title them, and disgrace them. Title the Nigerians,” he stated.
The US Invoice
The problem of alleged Christian genocide has generated debate in latest weeks after the US Congress launched a invoice searching for to categorise Nigeria as a “Nation of Explicit Concern” for alleged violations of spiritual freedom
The invoice, titled “The Nigeria Non secular Freedom Accountability Act, 2025 (S. 2747),” was collectively sponsored by Ted Cruz and several other US lawmakers. It mandates the US authorities to determine and sanction Nigerian officers allegedly liable for implementing blasphemy legal guidelines.
The measure was influenced by suggestions from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which has repeatedly urged the US State Division to designate Nigeria as a “Nation of Explicit Concern.”
USCIRF reviews declare that Nigerian authorities have failed to guard non secular minorities or punish perpetrators of sectarian violence. Nevertheless, Nigerian officers have dismissed the allegations as deceptive, sustaining that almost all violent incidents within the nation stem from terrorism and criminality quite than faith.
In response, the Nigerian Senate constituted a 12-member advert hoc committee to develop a legislative place on the allegations and advise the federal government on applicable motion.
No proof
Mr Omokri maintained that there is no such thing as a proof of Christian genocide in Nigeria, mentioning that even Open Doorways Worldwide, a worldwide Christian monitoring physique, has not categorized the state of affairs as genocide.
“Open Doorways themselves haven’t even stated there’s a genocide in Nigeria. The folks he was quoting, Open Doorways themselves, haven’t stated there’s a genocide or that there was a genocide.
“In the entire world, you’ve obtained one world physique that’s liable for adjudicating on who’s corrupt, and that’s Transparency Worldwide. Additionally, you’ve obtained one world physique that’s liable for adjudicating on safety and terrorism, and that’s the Institute for Financial and Peace that publishes the World Terror Index, and so they’ve stated that Nigeria has made enhancements, and that’s why we now have gone from the third most terrorised nation, I believe to the place we’re proper now, someplace possibly quantity eight.”
He added that whereas impunity is regularly being addressed, it stays a course of that requires strengthening the Nigerian Military and Police.
“Impunity is ending. It has not ended as a result of you want to develop the Nigerian Military, the Nigerian Police. We are able to’t be all over the place on the identical time, but it surely’s ending. It’s a course of.”
It’s ‘genocide’, former US mayor insists
Nevertheless, Mr Arnold claimed that the continued violence and displacement in Northern and Center-Belt Nigeria quantity to genocide in opposition to Christian communities.
In the course of the briefing, Mr Arnold stated he had undertaken 15 journeys to Nigeria since 2010, together with six investigative missions since 2019, visiting communities in Bokkos, Jos, Gwoza, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Abuja.
“I’ve interviewed governors, cupboard ministers, conventional rulers, and former presidents. I’ve met orphans whose dad and mom have been hacked to dying. I’ve constructed colleges in IDP camps and documented over 80 hours of filmed testimony.
“To play semantic video games whereas folks die is past obscene. There will be no resolution whereas leaders play phrase video games to cover the reality,” he stated.
Mr Arnold argued that the violence he noticed constituted a “calculated and long-running genocide” in opposition to Christian and different minority communities in Nigeria.
“The marketing campaign of violence and displacement in northern and Center Belt Nigeria does certainly represent a calculated, present, and long-running genocide in opposition to Christian communities and different non secular minorities,” he said.
He urged Nigerian authorities to behave decisively and challenged non secular leaders to rise above hypocrisy and converse reality to energy, accusing a few of ethical compromise.
