The Chairman of the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Association (SKCLA), Apostle Dr Emmanuel Kure, has described the recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Concern” by United States President Donald J. Trump as a welcome and long-overdue call to conscience.
In a statement made available to New Daily Prime on Tuesday, Apostle Kure said the designation had drawn much-needed global attention to what he described as “the plight of Christians in Northern Nigeria.”
“At last, someone, somewhere, has taken notice of the plight of Christians in Northern Nigeria, a plight our own government has consistently failed to acknowledge, let alone address,” the cleric said.
Apostle Kure lamented that successive Nigerian administrations had failed to tackle decades of systematic marginalisation and religious persecution in the North. He accused both Muslim and Christian political elites of “paying lip service to justice, unity, and peaceful coexistence,” arguing that their silence had allowed policies that discriminated against minority Christian communities to persist.
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He cited alleged instances of inequality in northern universities, such as Bayero University, Kano, and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, where, according to him, Christians were denied the right to build churches while mosques were freely permitted.
“The sponsorship and protection of jihadists, forced marriages that destroy Christian homes, and denial of equal opportunities are all part of a sustained pattern of persecution,” he added.
Kure, a former National Secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, urged the Federal Government to establish an independent panel of inquiry comprising respected Nigerians to investigate alleged targeted killings and discrimination in Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna.
He described recent attacks in Benue and Plateau, where no evidence of theft or banditry was found, as part of a “scorched-earth campaign” against Christian communities.
While commending the Kaduna State Government for taking early steps toward peace and reform, he called for stronger commitments to fairness and justice.
Apostle Kure further described Trump’s position as “a divine correction” designed to prompt self-reflection among African leaders. He argued that Britain also bears historical responsibility for Nigeria’s ethnic and religious divisions.
“Whether one calls it external interference or not, something must challenge the recklessness of African leaders who mortgage the future of their people. Time is running out, the moment of reckoning is now,” he warned.
