Bishop Stephen Adegbite, the executive secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission. has refuted Christian genocide allegation.

Mr Adegbite said at a news briefing on Monday in Abuja that Nigeria’s ongoing crisis stemmed from terrorism, banditry, and criminality, not a religious war.

He, however, expressed appreciation for global concern, especially that of President Donald Trump over the safety of Christians but cautioned against misrepresenting Nigeria’s complex security challenges as a religious conflict.

Mr Adegbite said, “Christians have suffered deeply, but so have Muslims. There is no doubt that Christian communities across Nigeria have endured terrible suffering. Churches have been attacked, pastors kidnapped, and families displaced by terrorists and bandits. But Muslim communities have also suffered immensely.

“We have mourned our brothers and sisters, particularly in the Middle East and the North-East, where insurgent groups like Boko Haram and ISIL have struck mercilessly. However, it is equally true that Muslim communities have suffered immensely as well, like in villages of Zamfara,Katsina,Niger,Sokoto,Borno,these crises have claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides.”

Citing data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, the bishop stated that more than 20,000 civilians were killed in various conflicts across Nigeria between 2020 and 2025.

He cited additional research from the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa recording 55,910 deaths in 9,970 deadly attacks between October 2019 and September 2023, including at least 16,769 Christians and 6,235 Muslims.

Mr Adegbite said, “These figures make one truth abundantly clear. Nigeria’s crisis is not a religious war, but a national security emergency.”

The bishop praised the ongoing collaboration between Christian and Muslim leaders through the Nigerian Inter-religious Council, which promotes dialogue, unity, and peacebuilding across faith lines.

Mr Adegbite added, “Terrorism has no religion, and banditry has no faith. When one community suffers, the entire nation bleeds.”

While acknowledging the “immense suffering”, he stressed that “the government does not and has never sanctioned violence against any faith group, but faces a complex web of security challenges that affect everyone”.

Mr Adegbite said, “Nigeria needs partnerships, not threats. What Nigeria needs from the United States and its allies is partnership, intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism training, and humanitarian aid, not threats of gun and military intervention.

“Any reckless military action or misinformed intervention from abroad could destabilise the entire West African sub-region, triggering a refugee crisis, economic collapse, and extremist resurgence. Nigeria’s sheer population size and the ingenuity of a people means that instability here will ripple far beyond our borders, undermining peace, trade, and democracy across Africa.”

Mr Adegbite explained that Nigeria is a complex, multi-ethnic democracy with more than 220 million citizens and over 250 ethnic nationalities, and is home to Africa’s largest Christian and Muslim populations, living side by side.

“So, when a global figure such as President Donald Trump described Nigeria’s crisis as Christian genocide, it reads as inflaming divisions and painting our multi-faith nation as a place of religious war, which is not. Nigeria’s story is not one of genocide, but of a resilient people determined to overcome terror, protect their faith, and preserve unity,” the cleric insisted.

Mr Adegbite warned that any foreign intervention based on false narratives could destabilise West Africa, trigger a refugee crisis, and reignite extremism. He gave examples of how such invasions destabilised countries like Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The clergyman said, “We are a sovereign nation, and we can only solve our problems with our own native intelligence. We are better off living together and resolving our crisis ourselves than any external aggression coming in, and that is what we must do.”

(NAN)