Lai Mohammed attributes attacks on Christians in Nigeria to ISWAP. - TrendyNewsReporters Lai Mohammed attributes attacks on Christians in Nigeria to ISWAP. - TrendyNewsReporters
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Lai Mohammed attributes attacks on Christians in Nigeria to ISWAP.

by Ebor Cletus Ralph Jr

In response to a letter from five US Senators asking for Nigeria to be reclassified as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to alleged persecution of Christians there, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has accused the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) of carrying out attacks on Christians in Nigeria.

Josh Hawley, Marco Rubio, Mike Braun, James M. Inhofe, and Tom Cotton, five US Republican senators, had noted that “recent acts of violence targeting Nigerian Christians” and the “deteriorating state of religious freedom in the country” as reasons the country should be relisted on the CPC a few months after it was removed from the list in a joint letter dated June 29 and addressed to the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

The letter also claimed that Nigerian Christians’ freedom to practise their religion was being violated, citing the recent murder of Deborah Yakubu by Muslim students at the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State for allegedly blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad.

Mohammed disagreed with the US Senators, claiming that their call for a re-designation of Nigeria on the CPC list was “based on false premise and misunderstanding of what was going on in the country,” when responding to the allegations in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in London on Monday.

The Minister, who insisted that Nigeria does not have a policy that forbids people from exercising their right to freedom of religion, blamed ISWAP terrorists for attacks on Christians, claiming they are attempting to stoke animosity between Nigerian Christians and Muslims.

“We want to say once again that Nigeria does not have a policy that denies people the freedom to practise their religion.

“The country also does not have a policy of violation of freedom of religion and it is not true that Nigeria persecutes anybody on account of his or her faith.”

The Minister also debunked insinuations that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria.

“Nobody in Nigeria is being persecuted, but we have issues of criminality going on and the criminals really do not make distinction of any religion.

“The ISWAP terrorists group is responsible for the attacks on Christians and churches in Nigeria.

“They kidnap for money, they hold people for ransom irrespective of their religion and there are some issues of communal matters dating back to many years.

“What ISWAP is doing is that because of their dwindling influence, they are now attacking churches and Christians in order to create crisis between various religious groups.

“But as a government, we are after them. If statistics is to be taken, I can say confidently that as many Muslims as Christians have been victims of these criminals,” the Minister promised.

 

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