The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said the claim that Christians are being systematically killed in Nigeria is untrue.
Keyamo said this on Wednesday, saying U. S. President Donald Trump’s comments were based on false information.
According to him, Nigeria, like many other countries, face internal security challenges caused by violent groups such as Boko Haram and armed herders.
“These decades-old problems were inherited by our president who has made great progress in the fight against these insurgents.
“In fact, most of the security chiefs appointed by him are Christians, so it would be unthinkable to imagine them being complicit in the killing of fellow Christians in Nigeria,” he said.
He said President Bola Tinubu is a “moderate” Muslim whose family reflects Nigeria’s religious diversity.
“President Tinubu of Nigeria, though a Muslim, is a known ‘moderate’, whose wife is a pastor of one of the biggest Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria and most of his children are practising Christians,” he said.
“When he was governor of Lagos State, he regularly invited Christian pastors for prayers and worship sessions at the Government House.
“He will be the last person to either adopt the killing of Christians as a state policy, or condone such acts or be complicit in them.”
Keyamo said insecurity in parts of the country affects people of all religions, not just Christians, adding that opposition parties in Nigeria, despite their political differences, also agree that there is no targeted killing of Christians in the country.
The minister told the US government to support Nigeria’s efforts to tackle terrorism rather than rely on distorted reports.
