President of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Northern Nigeria, Rev. John Hayab, on Tuesday said Muslim terrorists are systematically killing Christians in the region to perpetuate Islamic ideology.

Speaking to Peoples Gazette on Tuesday, Mr Hayab said President Donald Trump’s recent threat to invade Nigeria to eliminate terrorists allegedly killing Christians was a wake up call for Nigerian government to tackle what he described as a systematic persecution of Christians in Northern Nigeria.

Clarifying Mr Trump’s order, Mr Hayab said, “There is no where the president of America said he was coming to bomb Nigeria. He said Nigerian government should go after the terrorists. if they do no go, he will send his soldiers to go after the terrorists. Are we now the defenders of terrorists?”

The cleric added, “It is not a lie, terrorists have been tormenting us in Nigeria, especially Christians in Northern Nigeria. We have suffered in the hands of terrorists. They have killed our wives, they have killed our children, burnt our churches, destroy out communities. They have caused us so much pain. If anybody will tell you that they are not killings us the person is not telling the truth.”

Mr Hayab noted that terrorist groups tormenting the country were Muslim terrorists, killing in the name of Islam, adding that it was time for Muslims to dissociate themselves from the terror groups.

“The terrorists organisations in Nigeria such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, Lakurawa, are they Christians terror groups? No. They are Muslim terrorist groups. So when they kill, we cry because we know they are promoting an Islamic ideology. They are doing it in the name of Islam,” Mr Hayab said.

He stated, “So the Muslim should come together and tell themselves the terrorists that they are giving them a bad name. To tell us that we shouldn’t cry, we should not talk that we are being killed, is what we don’t understand. We are being killed. Systematic killing.”

The cleric dismissed killings in Christians communities labelled as herder-farmer crisis, explaining that terrorists kill Christians because of their identity and kill Muslims who only disagree with them.

“People are competing about numbers of Muslims or Christians… Sir, a terrorist kills me because of my Christian identity. If he kills someone that shares his identity it is probably because the person does not agree with him. But he is not actually against Islam. He is against Christians. So let call a spade a spade and find solution. It time for us to talk truth to ourselves and find solution,” Mr Hayab said.

The cleric urged President Bola Tinubu to tackle alleged persecution of Christians in northern Nigeria, adding that “This matter needs serious attention and this is the time to give it attention because we may not even have a country tomorrow if we do not treat this matter early.”

Mr Hayab’s statement followed Mr Trump’s declaration of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over alleged Christian genocide and threat to invade the country should the federal government foot-drag in tackling the issue.

Mr Tinubu-led government denied the allegations but agreed to work with the American government to resolve the issue.