Olushola Omogbehin
Ted Cruz, a United States senator, has said that Nigerian government officials are involvement in attacks against Christians in the country.
He disclosed this during a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday which focused on the United States counterterrorism strategy in Africa.
Speaking during the hearing, Cruz claimed that Nigeria records the highest number of Christians killed because of their faith anywhere in the world.
According to him, since 2009, more than 50,000 Christians had been killed, while over 20,000 churches, schools and other religious buildings had been destroyed.
“Nigerian officials had been, unfortunately, complicit in facilitating these atrocities,” Cruz said.
Linking some of the violence to the operation of Sharia law in some northern states, Cruz said the response of Nigerian authorities to insecurity in the country had been slow.
Recalling previous meeting with Nigerian defence and security officials, with promises that the violence would be addressed, he said those promises have are yet to materialise.
“I told them I would judge their commitment by the results. Those results have yet to materialise,” he said.
He also questioned a senior official of the US State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, Nick Checker, on whether engagements between Nigeria and the United States had led to meaningful progress, since the intervention of Donald Trump.
Pointing to changes in the country’s security structure, including leadership adjustments, recruitment of more troops and deployment of forest guards to troubled areas, Checker reacted that Nigeria had shown some level of cooperation with the United States,
“We’ve seen some positive movements, including leadership changes in Nigerian security services, recruitment of additional troops, and deployment of forest guards to areas affected by violence,” he said.
Speaking further, Checker said that there had been an increase in the prosecution of suspected terrorists.
This according to his was sequel to the creation of a bilateral high level working group after discussions between Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, and US Under Secretary of State, Allison Hooker.
He maintained that recent support from the United States to Nigerian security forces showed continued cooperation between both countries.
“We’ve seen positive steps by the Nigerians, but certainly more can be done,” Checker said, adding that the US would continue to push for further action.
However, Nigeria’s former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has dismissed this allegation, saying insurgent groups have killed more Muslims than Christians.
He disclosed this in the United Kingdom yesterday, while answering questions from students of Abbey College, Cambridge.
Reacting to a question on religious persecution, especially against Christians, Lai Mohammed said narratives of a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria were inaccurate.
“There should be more understanding on the part of the developed world. Now, people say that there is religious persecution in Nigeria and that there is genocide against Christians. It’s not true. It is fake news.
“Nigeria as a country has challenges that will not be resolved by genocide against any religion.
“At the beginning, the victims of Boko Haram were largely Muslims, not Christians. Boko Haram started as a revolt by extreme Muslims against conventional Muslims like me.
“Look at the meaning of Boko Haram — ‘haram’ means forbidden or illicit, ‘boko’ means Western education. So for Boko Haram, I, Lai Mohammed, having gone to school, am an enemy.
“They realised that Muslims killing one another doesn’t gain traction. When Muslims start killing Christians, it causes uproar. That is the honest truth,” he said.
