The Federal Government of Nigeria has reacted to the United States’ designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” and to recent threats of military action by former U.S. President Donald Trump, assuring citizens and the international community that Nigeria is not facing a religious conflict.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja, emphasizing that the government is aware of public anxiety over the development but remains focused on addressing the country’s longstanding security challenges.
Idris noted that insecurity in Nigeria—rooted in terrorism, banditry, and communal clashes—has affected both Christians and Muslims, stressing that the government’s response has always been non-discriminatory.
“It is important to restate that the menace of terrorism in Nigeria does not exclusively target any religious or ethnic group. Extremism is mindless and blind to religion, tribe, or class,” he said.
The minister highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s determination to end insecurity, revealing that since May 2023, Nigerian security agencies have neutralized over 13,500 terrorists, arrested more than 17,000 suspects, and rescued about 9,800 abductees, including women and children.
Idris dismissed claims that the Nigerian state is complicit in religious persecution, describing such allegations as “misinformation or based on faulty data.”
“Several leading personnel of the Armed Forces and intelligence agencies are Christians, working alongside their Muslim colleagues in the fight against extremists and criminals waging war against our unity and values,” he added.
He also pointed to regional instability in the Sahel and the fall of Libya as contributing factors to Nigeria’s security woes, noting that illegal arms flows and cross-border terrorist networks continue to fuel violence.
The minister said Nigeria remains committed to cooperation within ECOWAS, the African Union, and with international partners including the U.S., to stabilize the Sahel and tackle terrorism’s transnational roots.
Addressing the North-Central crisis, Idris explained that violence in Plateau and Benue states has been worsened by climate change, desertification, and decades-long farmers-herders clashes, rather than religion.
“President Tinubu’s administration is committed to peacebuilding, justice, and the protection of all Nigerians, irrespective of faith or ethnicity,” he concluded.
