Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, has challenged claims of a Christian genocide in the country.
Speaking on Piers Morgan’s show on Tuesday, Tuggar disputed
figures presented by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of
Law (Intersociety), which claimed that over 50,000 Christians have been killed
in Nigeria since 2009, with 18,000 churches destroyed.
Tuggar described these numbers as inaccurate and criticised
the framing of the conflict.
He said the Nigerian government does not categorise victims
by faith but regards all as citizens first.
Pressed for specific figures, the minister said 177
Christians have been killed, 98 injured, and seven abducted in the last five
years.
He also said 102 churches have been attacked during the same
period.
“In the last five years, I can categorically tell you that
177 Christians have been killed. The number of those injured are 98, while
seven were abducted,” Tuggar said.
“We are not hiding any facts but, as I said, we don’t go
about trying to identify a Nigerian’s faith when they have lost their lives.”
Tuggar said 52 churches have been attacked in the last two
years and highlighted that mosques have also been destroyed.
“Nigeria is configured in a way that you have Muslim and
Christian populations across the country,” he said, urging a more nuanced
understanding of the country’s complex security challenge.
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