The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has accused the opposition of fueling the narrative that Christians are being killed in Nigeria, describing it as “politics taken too far.”
Naijaonpoint reports that Wike made the remarks on Monday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, following recent claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that Christians were facing “genocide” in Nigeria.
Responding to questions on the allegation of Christian persecution, Wike said the opposition was responsible for spreading misinformation to undermine President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Wike said, “It is very obvious, and I have said this.
“The problem we have today is that because of Mr President’s nature of politics, you can see the collapse of the opposition. It will be difficult for anybody. The opposition today has seen that no party is prepared to challenge the President returning to power.”
He said the opposition aimed to create division among Nigerians through religious propaganda.
“What do we do? Should we allow him to just go in like that without challenges? We must do something, and one of the things to do is bring up such things that will divide the country,” he added.
Wike dismissed the allegations of Christian genocide under President Tinubu’s watch, calling it “an insult” to the government he serves.
He said, “It is an indictment that a government I am serving, anybody will allege that that government is supporting genocide — killing of Christians, and I am still in that government.
“This is politics taken too far. The Inspector General of Police is a Christian, the Director General of the State Security Service is a Christian, and the Chief of Defence Staff is a Christian. Tell me how any right-thinking person will think that we would sit in government and support the killing of our own people?”
He further noted that the loss of lives in any part of the country was painful to every responsible leader.
“The killings of Nigerians, whether Christians or Muslims, do not bring joy to any leader. We must stop politicising tragedy,” he said.
The minister’s comments came amid growing controversy over Donald Trump’s threat to deploy U.S. troops or launch airstrikes in Nigeria over the alleged persecution of Christians.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had asked the Pentagon to “map out a possible plan of attack” if the Nigerian government failed to curb what he described as mass killings of Christians.
“If Nigeria does not stem the killings, the United States will attack, and it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians,” Trump wrote.
The former U.S. president repeated his warning on Sunday, saying he was “not ruling out” ground operations or air strikes.
“They’re killing Christians in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” Trump said.
When asked if he feared a possible U.S. military intervention, Wike avoided a direct response but suggested that Trump might have acted on distorted intelligence.
“There could be some misinformation or distortion. It’s unfortunate,” he said.
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