President Bola Tinubu, on Friday, met with the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja to discuss alleged genocide on Christians in Nigeria.
The Sultan, who is the head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and the spiritual leader of Nigeria’s Muslim community, held discussions with the President in his office at the State House.
Also present at the meeting were the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. The details of their discussions were not immediately disclosed.
Earlier on Tuesday, President Tinubu had also met with the Catholic Archbishop of the Diocese of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, in a move seen as part of the administration’s efforts to promote religious harmony.
The meetings follow comments by United States President Donald Trump, who accused the Nigerian government of failing to prevent attacks against Christians and threatened possible military action against terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and ISWAP, as well as bandits in the North-West and North-Central regions.
The US government also listed Nigeria among “Countries of Particular Concern,” a designation the Nigerian authorities have rejected. After meeting with President Tinubu, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, described the designation as “false and untrue.”
He emphasised that the current government respects the constitutional rights of Nigerians to practise their faith freely and is actively addressing security challenges.