Moghalu: Christian genocide narrative oversimplifies Nigeria’s security crisis

Kingsley Moghalu, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says the growing narrative of a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria fails to capture the full complexity of the country’s security challenges.

US President Donald Trump had, in a post shared on his Truth Social account and the White House’s X handle on Friday, claimed that Christians are being massacred in Nigeria, describing the situation as a genocide.

In a post on X, Moghalu, a former presidential candidate, said while extremist groups like Boko Haram operate with fanatic religious motivations, their victims include Muslims and Christians.

“The bald fact is that Boko Haram is a terrorist group with avowedly fanatic religious motivations,” he said.

“The victims of its terror include Muslims who don’t share their extreme interpretations of Islam, and Christians.”

He noted that while most killings in the Middle Belt involve predominantly Christian victims, the violence has gone beyond resource conflicts.

“The narratives of a struggle for resources of land and water and farmlands are not valid when whole communities are being massacred and evicted from their ancestral dwellings,” he said.

“Nothing justifies this, not even a felt need for grazing lands.”

Moghalu said the ongoing attacks amount to a gross violation of human rights, underscoring that the Nigerian government has a duty to protect all citizens and the country’s territorial integrity.

“The right to life and other fundamental rights are being shredded both by Boko Haram and extremist herdsmen. This invokes the responsibility of the Nigerian government to protect Nigerians and Nigerian territory. Period. No excuses,” he said.

He urged the federal government to strengthen its security strategy and engage foreign powers constructively, noting that international concern over Nigeria’s insecurity stems from a perceived failure of the state to safeguard its citizens.

“With a security strategy made evident by its effectiveness, Nigeria should then engage the influential foreign countries expressing interest in this matter,” he said.

“But we should not overlook the fact that activists and interest groups are seeking foreign intervention because they believe their own country has not been able to secure their lives.”

Moghalu added that the existence of ungoverned spaces in Nigeria signals a breakdown in effective governance.

“There should be no ‘ungoverned spaces’ in any country, because such a phenomenon is directly opposed to the concept of effective government and governance,” he said.

“The existence of such spaces is evidence of state failure.”

Meanwhile, the federal government has rejected Trump’s move to tag Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over Christian genocide claims.

In a statement on Saturday, Nigeria’s ministry of foreign affairs said the claims do not reflect the realities on the ground.