The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has refuted allegations by US Senator Ted Cruz, who claimed that Nigerian officials are turning a blind eye to, or even aiding, the mass killing of Christians by Islamist militants.
Onanuga dismissed the accusation as “malicious, contrived lies” in a post on social media platform X, where Cruz had made the original claim.
Senator Cruz had alleged that Nigerian government officials are complicit in what he described as a campaign of religious violence targeting Christians.
“Officials in Nigeria are ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.
“It’s time to hold those responsible accountable. My Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools,” Cruz wrote on X.
Responding, Onanuga stressed that the Nigerian government is actively confronting terrorism and insecurity without bias.
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He accused Cruz of spreading a misleading narrative that ignores the broader context of violence in the country, which affects all communities.
Onanuga wrote: “Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country. We do not have a religious war in my country. The degraded Boko Haram terrorists operating on the fringes of Nigeria’s North east target everyone. They attack farmers, our soldiers. The bandits in the North west kill worshippers in their mosques. Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country. Stop these malicious lies.”
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday dismissed allegations of religious genocide in Nigeria as baseless, asserting that no faith group is under threat in the country.
Speaking in Owerri, the Imo State capital, the President emphasized that Nigeria is a nation founded on the strength, faith, and resilience of its people.
He noted that after 65 years of independence, Nigerians have grown to embrace and respect the country’s cultural and religious diversity.
