Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has dismissed allegations of a Christian genocide in Nigeria, faulting United States President, Donald Trump, for acting on what she described as false claims about the country.
In a post on X on Monday, Mrs Dabiri-Erewa acknowledged that terrorists are wreaking havoc in some parts of the country but maintained that Mr Trump should be assisting Nigeria in fighting terrorism rather than “falsely denigrating” it.
“The perception is definitely not true. There are issues with evil terrorists in some parts of the country, no doubt. What @POTUS needs to do is support the efforts of our government in quashing them, not so falsely denigrate our country,” Mrs Dabiri-Erewa said.
She commended President Bola Tinubu’s response to Mr Trump’s recent declaration of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” adding that the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also issued a strong statement on the matter.
“@NigeriaMFA has also issued a strong statement. @nidcom_gov urges Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to be united on this,” she added.
President Tinubu, who has repeatedly denied claims of genocide in Nigeria, said his administration is willing to cooperate with U.S. authorities to address security challenges in the country.
Mrs Dabiri-Erewa’s remarks followed Mr Trump’s controversial threat to invade Nigeria to “kill off rampaging bandits and terrorists,” in response to a viral online campaign led by several U.S. lawmakers — including Ted Cruz, Riley Moore, and Nancy Mace — alleging the killing of Christians in Nigeria.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had also backed the international campaign against what it described as “Christian genocide,” urging global intervention in the crisis.
Hours after Mr Trump’s remarks, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the American Department of War was preparing to invade Nigeria to destroy terrorist networks if the Tinubu administration failed to act decisively against the killings.
