Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK), has condemned what he described as “insensitive and cruel assertions” denying that Christians are being killed in Nigeria, saying such claims are not only false but dangerously divisive.
In a strongly worded statement posted on his Facebook page, Fani-Kayode warned that both Christians and Muslims are being targeted and murdered by the same terrorists, and that attempts to frame the violence as a religious war only empower extremists and undermine national unity.
According to him, “Christians are targeted and killed in large numbers in Nigeria, and anyone that denies this, plays it down, or says otherwise is a perfidious propagandist and a genocide-enabler.” He however stressed that Muslims are also victims, noting that the killers do not discriminate.
FFK cited recent attacks to illustrate the point, including the abduction of 25 girls and their principal in Maga, Kebbi State, where the vice principal was brutally killed. “They were not Christian but Muslim,” he noted. He also referred to the abduction of 64 people and the killing of three others in Tsafe, Zamfara State, all Muslims; and the kidnapping of a Catholic priest and 12 girls in Kagarko, Kaduna State, who were Christians.
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He further recalled the ambush in Borno State in which several Army officers—including a Brigadier-General—were killed, saying the victims were of both faiths.
“These terrorists do not care about the religion of their victims and do not represent any faith,” he said. “They only care about spilling innocent blood, terrorising civilians, occupying land, and pillaging resources.”
Fani-Kayode rejected calls in some quarters for amnesty for the perpetrators, insisting that the only solution is for the Federal Government and the Armed Forces to “crush them ruthlessly and send them back to hell.”
He cautioned against spinning the crisis into a Christian-versus-Muslim narrative or advocating for American military intervention, which he argued would worsen the situation and embolden extremists.
The former minister also warned against Nigeria becoming a battleground for global powers or descending into the kind of conflict seen in places like Congo, Somalia, Gaza, or Syria.
“As a nation, we must set aside our differences, remain united, and confront the common enemy together,” he urged. “Time is running out.”
