By Nasiru Jagaba
I. INTRODUCTION
This rebuttal is issued in direct response to the Press Release delivered by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) on 19 November 2025 regarding violent extremism, insurgency, and the claims of “Christian genocide” in Nigeria.
While the SGF attempts to project a picture of stability, balance, and control, the statement is overwhelmed by omissions so grave that they distort the lived realities of entire communities. A responsible government cannot ignore patterns of targeted violence that have been documented for over a decade by local groups, international NGOs, journalists, survivor networks, and faith-based organisations.
Nigeria is a sovereign state, yes, but sovereignty does not excuse the suppression of atrocity data, nor does political convenience justify the whitewashing of mass killings.
And in the SGF’s four-page statement, not a single line—NOT ONE—acknowledges the thousands of Christians killed across the Middle Belt and Northern Nigeria:
Southern Kaduna
Plateau
Benue
Taraba
Adamawa
Niger
Nasarawa
Kogi
And even communities on the outskirts of the FCT
This silence is not accidental. It is strategic.
The day the Federal Government publicly admits that these killings are real, coordinated, and targeted, their long-running propaganda that “there is no genocide” collapses instantly.
1. The Shameful Erasure of the Middle Belt Tragedy
The SGF’s statement references Libya, Egypt, ISIS, illegal mining, and “foreign networks” yet it conveniently omits the burnt churches, decapitated clergy, massacred families, and razed ancestral settlements that define the Middle Belt’s tragedy.
If there is “no genocide,” then what exactly do we call:
Pregnant women whose wombs were slit open?
Children slaughtered beside their mothers?
Villages burnt at midnight with survivors chased into the bush?
Worshippers murdered inside churches?
Priests executed at the altar?
Farmers butchered while tending their fields?
Entire communities displaced and their lands occupied?
Call it whatever political vocabulary you prefer.
The world knows what these patterns reflect.
2. The Political U-Turn of the Benue State Governor: A Historical Betrayal
The SGF cites the Benue State Governor as an “authority.”
How convenient.
This is the same governor who:
Publicly wept over the mass killings in Benue
Addressed international audiences about genocide
Presented memoranda to foreign governments and global institutions
But now, because political calculations demand loyalty to Abuja, he recants everything and declares “there is no genocide.”
The Middle Belt remembers.
History remembers.
And nothing stains the integrity of leadership more than betraying one’s own dead for political survival.
3. Government Can Edit Data, But Not Innocent Blood
The SGF must be reminded:
You can censor official reports.
You can manipulate casualty figures.
You can deny the truth on national television.
But you cannot silence the voices of:
Slaughtered pregnant women
Families burnt alive in their homes
Abducted Christian girls forcibly converted and married off
Orphans wandering through IDP camps
Communities wiped off the map
Blood speaks.
And it speaks louder than any press statement from Abuja.
4. “Christians Are Not Being Targeted” A Claim Too Weak to Stand
The SGF asserts that “both sides suffer.”
A shallow, lazy, and dishonest statement.
Let the government explain:
a. Chronic underdevelopment of Christian-majority areas
No roads.
No electricity.
No hospitals.
No federal presence.
No meaningful investments.
b. Educational discrimination
Christian students denied admission unless they assume Muslim names
Catchment areas weaponised
Christian Religious Studies removed or sidelined
Mission schools seized and Islam-focused schools prioritised
c. Employment and institutional bias
•Christians excluded from security-sensitive positions
•Rarely appointed principal officers in public universities
•Recruitment boards dominated by one faith
d. Worship, land, and zoning discrimination
•Churches denied building permits
•Churches demolished for “zoning violations” while mosques flourish
•Occupation of Christian lands after attacks
e. Abduction and forced religious conversion
•Christian minors abducted and •forcibly converted
•Families silenced
•Perpetrators protected by state actors
f. Targeted attacks on Christian farmers
•Farms burnt
•Harvests looted
•Farmers butchered
If there is “no targeting,” then why are 90% of destroyed villages across Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, and Taraba Christian-majority communities?
Why are IDP camps across the Middle Belt overwhelmingly filled with Christian survivors?
Let the SGF explain.
5. “No Genocide” The Weakest Denial Since Independence
The SGF says “no credible international institution has declared genocide.”
Of course not.
Nigeria allegedly spends billions lobbying external governments to soften language in official communiqués.
But you cannot lobby the graves.
You cannot lobby the burnt churches.
You cannot lobby the widows, the orphans, the abducted girls, or the survivors.
Credibility lies with them, not with government press releases
6. The Double Standard in Attacking U.S. Statements
The SGF claims international comments “embolden attackers.”
What an unserious argument.
Were terrorists waiting for U.S. statements before attacking:
•Agatu?
•Barkin Ladi?
•Guma and Gwer?
•Kajuru, Kaura, Kauru, Zangon Kataf?
•Chibok girls?
•Leah Sharibu?
•Deborah Samuel?
Why did the SGF omit these tragedies?
Because acknowledging them destroys the moral and factual foundation of the entire press statement.
7. Politics Is Fine — But Not With Human Blood
Politicians can hold press conferences. Governors can perform political acrobatics.
Officials can issue denials.
But we will not do politics with human blood. There must be a line that no government crosses.
8. A Call to the United States and the International Community
We urge the United States and global human-rights institutions:
Ignore denialists. Investigate independently. Speak directly with survivors. Evaluate atrocity patterns, not political speeches.
Yes, Muslims in the North also suffer immensely.
But the targeted persecution of Christian communities is real, ongoing, and undeniable.
CONCLUSION
The SGF’s statement is:
Not a security assessment
Not a humanitarian briefing
Not an honest reflection of Nigeria’s atrocity landscape
It is a political shield constructed to conceal:
•Genocide denial
•State failure
•Leadership betrayal
•Institutional discrimination
•Systematic persecution of Christian communities
•And a decade of avoidable bloodshed
No amount of grammar, diplomatic name-dropping, or selective data can rewrite reality.
The blood of the innocent is crying. And the world is finally listening.
● Jagaba, a Human Rights advocate for Middle Belt communities can be reached at jagabanasiru@gmail.com
