The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has dismissed as “false, malicious and destabilising” recent claims circulating on international media and social platforms that Christians in Nigeria are facing a state-backed genocidal campaign.
The allegations, amplified by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, accused Nigerian authorities of orchestrating systematic attacks against Christians and allowing the destruction of thousands of churches. Cruz told Fox News Digital that more than 52,000 Christians had been killed and over 20,000 churches and schools destroyed since 2009 — figures the NSCIA described as “plainly mendacious.”
The U.S. lawmaker also announced a proposed Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act in the Senate, seeking sanctions against Nigerian officials allegedly complicit in the persecution.
In a separate statement, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Daniel Okoh, acknowledged that Christian communities, particularly in the North, had suffered devastating attacks. He urged a national reckoning, saying, “Nigeria’s healing will not come from denial or blame, but from courage — the courage to face our collective failures, to grieve together, and to rebuild trust.”
But in its Friday statement signed by Deputy National Legal Adviser Imam Eze, the NSCIA accused some Christian leaders of profiting from “self-flagellation” and negative international profiling of Nigeria. The Council alleged that certain individuals “found a big business in painting Nigeria as a failed, genocidal state,” urging the Federal Government to expose those behind such narratives.
The Council warned that political and religious extremists were attempting to inflame sectarian conflict. “Without a shred of doubt, the world is aware that some political desperadoes and religious irredentists have been trying hard to plunge Nigeria into a religious war,” it said, referencing a leaked 2023 recording in which a presidential candidate allegedly described the election as a “religious war.”
Citing official data, the NSCIA rejected suggestions that militant groups specifically target Christians. “The U.S. State Department’s 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom clearly shows that terrorists, bandits and armed criminal groups target mosques and churches indiscriminately,” it said. “In the first half of 2025 alone, at least 2,266 civilians were killed across Northern Nigeria — where Muslims are predominant.”
The Council accused some clerics, including Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi and Rev. Joseph Hayab of the Northern CAN, of spreading “odious falsehoods” to attract foreign sympathy and funding. It expressed dismay that the Federal Government and local media had failed to challenge such claims.
While commending some CAN officials for acknowledging that both Muslims and Christians have been victims of insurgency, the NSCIA criticised Archbishop Okoh’s remarks, accusing him of deepening division. “When the Chiefs of Defence and Army were Muslims, CAN complained they were complicit. Now that almost all the service chiefs are Christians, new culprits have to be created to malign Islam,” it said.
The Council further alleged that anti-Muslim narratives were being used to exert political pressure and achieve greater representation in government. “The presidency confirmed in May 2025 that 62 per cent of presidential appointees are Christians, yet the propaganda around the so-called ‘Muslim-Muslim ticket’ persists to blackmail and extort the government,” it stated.
The NSCIA also criticised a recent National Insurance Commission circular barring co-insurance between conventional and Takaful (Islamic) insurers, calling it divisive and inconsistent with industry reforms.
Reaffirming its commitment to unity, the Council said it would continue to pursue peace and coexistence “even in the face of the greatest provocation.”
“Council strongly believes in one and indivisible Nigeria, and it shall continue to work to preserve this ideal,” the statement concluded.
