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The National Civil Society Council of Nigeria, NCSCN, has tasked the federal government to urgently commence proper documentation and harmonisation of data on terrorist and bandit attacks, to enable accurate information dissemination that will reduce the speculations of Christian genocide within the international community.
The Council also blamed the absence of Ambassadors to strategic countries to manage the country’s diplomatic relations for fuelling the speculations, warning that running a nation for over two years without Ambassadors to nations is both unthinkable and highly detrimental to any government.
This is as the CSO insisted that the impression in the international community that terrorist and bandit activities are targeted only at Christians and their communities is both erroneous and misleading, considering that available records indicate that Muslims and Islamic communities are also affected.
The CSO asked the federal government to build an Independent Database of incidents and statistics of terrorist and bandit attacks, with specific categorisation of gender, age, religion of victims and affected families, through the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA.
Following its emergency meeting, the NCSCN, in a statement by its Communiqué Drafting Committee, headed by Mazi Oscar David Kalu, noted that the Council was compelled to convene the emergency meeting in the wake of the growing international tension over Christian genocide and the backlash on the Tinubu government over the delay in appointing Ambassadors to countries across the globe.
Among its recommendations, the CSO asked “That the Federal Government urgently convenes an Inter-Religious Dialogue on this burning issue of Christian Genocide, deploying the Organised Civil Society to set the records straight and douse mounting tension across the federation.
”That President Bola Ahmed Tinubu prioritises the appointment of ambassadors and international lobbyists to safeguard Nigeria’s interests and promote the country’s growth and development, and transmit a list of Ambassadors’ nominees to the Senate for confirmation not exceeding November 2025
“That a national framework and mechanism for strategic lobbying be developed by the Federal Government, engaging competent hands, seasoned diplomats and International Lobbyists.
Noting that foreign relations and policies of a country are crucial to its national development, the NCSCN warned the federal government not to take the current accusation of Christian Genocide for granted.
“The assertions from the International Community, especially America, must be handled professionally, with the highest level of diplomacy and caution, by confronting the matter with verifiable facts and figures,” it advised.
The Communique was signed by Mazi Oscar David Kalu, Chairman of the drafting committee, Gambo Suliema Haruna, representing Media Organisations, Mutaka Ibrahim Ghali, for Muslim Organisations and Peter Ihekiedime, representative of Christian Organisations.
Others are Hajiya Hadiza Garba, Jessica Paul and Lawal Tosin, all committee members.
