Retired General Ishola Williams has accused some Christian religious leaders in Nigeria of lobbying the United States to impose sanctions on the country.
He made the comments on Sunday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Inside Sources programme.
According to him, there are individuals “pushing the Americans to sanction Nigeria” over alleged targeted attacks against Christians.
He noted that these clerics believe the government is not doing enough about insecurity and killings across the country.
Speaking on the U.S. pressure, the former military chief said American politicians and lobby groups have been raising alarm about “Christian genocide in Nigeria,” urging Washington to act.
He stated:
“The Christian clerics in Nigeria are the ones pushing the Americans to sanction Nigeria because nobody seems to be caring about what is happening. So it’s calling attention to really what’s happening in the world.”
He added that American lawmakers and religious bodies have intensified advocacy, insisting Abuja must face consequences for alleged persecution of Christians.
“The Americans have been making a big deal, big noise about Christian genocide in Nigeria. Senators, congressmen, journalists, faith groups, they have been shouting that, oh, the American government should make some punitive action regarding Nigeria because they are killing Christians.”
However, General Williams stressed that both major religions are victims of violence, noting that the crisis is not one-sided.
“My view is that they are killing Christians and they are killing Muslims, you know, and that we should just try and stop this killing.”
When asked if he supported Washington’s stance, he maintained that insecurity affects all Nigerians regardless of faith.
“My own view too is like yours, that it’s both the Muslims and the Christians that are suffering, not only being killed, that are suffering, okay? And it’s a case of Muslims killing Muslims and some Muslims killing Christians, you know, okay.”
He urged the Nigerian government to produce credible data on casualties to counter external narratives, and to show that extremist violence affects both religious groups.
“If our intelligence system is working, they should be able to provide empirical figures to the Americans and say, ‘See the number of Muslims killed? See the number of Christians killed?’”
General Williams also compared Nigeria’s situation with violent religious incidents in other nations, arguing that extremists exist everywhere.
“They go into synagogues, they go into churches and kill people there… it’s something that is common in any countries where you have extremist people who believe that they are the only way to register their dissent against religion.”
Recall that as POLITICS NIGERIA had earlier reported, this remark comes less than a month after American Senator Ted Cruz raised concerns about “Christian genocide” in Nigeria.
Also, the U.S. President on Friday designated Nigeria as a country of particular concern and is threatening to impose sanctions and consider possible military action.