Former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode has warned that recent claims by American and Canadian officials describing Nigeria as a site of “Christian genocide” are part of a broader plot to destabilise the country.
In a statement on Saturday, Fani-Kayode, who tweets via @realFFK, said the remarks by US senator Ted Cruz, television host Bill Maher, CNN’s Van Jones, and a resolution of the Canadian parliament, suggest an agenda to “prepare the ground for a religious war” in Nigeria.
His words: “The truth is that Christians have indeed been targeted by Boko Haram and ISWAP, but Muslims have also been slaughtered in equal measure by the same terrorists.
“The false narrative that only Christians are victims is dangerous, divisive and capable of tearing our country apart.”
He accused the US and its allies of hypocrisy, noting that they once refused to sell arms to Nigeria or designate Boko Haram as a terrorist group, only to now “cry more than the bereaved” in what he described as a distraction from the war in Gaza.
Fani-Kayode said the international pressure followed Nigeria’s position at the United Nations against Israeli military actions in Gaza, adding that the “Christian genocide” label was being weaponised to isolate and punish the country.
He urged Nigerians not to be divided along religious lines, stressing that terrorists in the country “kill Nigerians of all faiths” and that “beasts don’t care whether you are Christian or Muslim when they knock at your door; they only care about spilling your blood.”
“The West’s sudden venom is not borne of love for Nigerian Christians, but of malice against Nigeria’s unity,” he said.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
