Bayo Onanuga
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, has dismissed as “malicious, contrived lies” a claim by US senator Ted Cruz that Nigerian officials are ignoring the mass killing of Christians.
Cruz had alleged that Islamist jihadists are carrying out “mass murder of Christians” in Nigeria with the complicity of state officials.
“Officials in Nigeria are ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists,” the senator wrote on X.
“It’s time to hold those responsible accountable. My Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools.”
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In a riposte on the same social media platform, Onanuga said Nigeria does not have a religious war and insisted that terrorists and bandits kill without discrimination.
“Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country. We do not have a religious war in my country,” the president’s spokesperson wrote.
“The degraded Boko Haram terrorists operating on the fringes of Nigeria’s North east target everyone. They attack farmers, our soldiers.
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“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.”
On Tuesday, Tinubu said allegations of religious genocide in Nigeria are unfounded, noting that the country is built on the faith and resilience of its people.
Speaking in Owerri, the Imo state capital, the president said no religion is under threat in the country, noting that Nigerians, after 65 years of independence, have learned to appreciate their cultural and religious diversity.
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