Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Enugu

The federal government has been urged to stop denying the existence of the alleged genocide against Christians and instead channel efforts towards halting the persistent killings in Nigeria. 

An advocacy group, the Igbo Women Assembly (IWA) gave the advice following FG’s panicky reaction to the threat issued by President Donald Trump of the United States of America to use military force to rout terrorists wreaking havoc in Nigeria. 

In a statement signed by its President, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, IWA said that denying the targeted systematic killings of Christians that have been going on over the years will not help the situation, adding that only accomplices would deny the occurrence. 

‘”Evidence of genocidal killings of Christians in Nigeria is overwhelming. Those denying the occurrence must be accomplices,” the women group said. 

IWA wondered why it has taken a threatening message from Trump for the FG to wake up to the urgent need to stop treating the terrorist groups with kid gloves hence the killings have persisted for long. 

According to the group, government has been “turning a blind eye to unprovoked attacks against Christians in Nigeria by Islamic fundamentalists until the jolt by Trump.” 

IWA welcomed the actions taken by the US President, including designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and the follow-up threat to come with gun-ablazing to take out the terrorists. 

“We appreciate  American President, Donald Trump, for his attention to the killing of Christians and indigenous Nigerians. Anybody denying genocidal killings in Nigeria must be an accomplice,” the group said. 

“We also applaud Trump for putting our government on its toes. Before now they have maintained criminal silence over these atrocities.” 

IWA stated that that the genocidal killings of Christians and indigenous populations have been masked in conspiracy of silence all these years with government pampering the perpetrators and even dressing them with repentance robes. 

“It’s shameful that it takes American President’s tweet for Nigerian Government to talk about the senseless killings of its own citizens by blood-thirsty terrorists,” it said. 

The women group pointed out that “the noise  about 2027” general election was already drowning the cries of Nigerians affected by the genocidal killings if not that Trump heard the wailings and pleadings for outside help. 

It blamed both the local and the international media for not putting the atrocious activities of the Islamic fundamentalists and Fulani herdsmen in proper perspectives, covering the killings with politically correct euphemisms. 

“These atrocities were also scarcely mentioned in the mainstream global media. We complained, they tagged us separatists, while the mainstream media dismissed the systematic genocides as herder-farmer clashes,” IWA lamented. 

The group faulted the arguments of FG and those trying to rationalise the targeted killings on the ground that Muslims also suffer the same fate in the hands of the murderers. 

“The casualty figures speak for itself. From 2009 when these killings started till date, let those denying Christian genocide tell us how many mosques that were burnt down and compare it to hundreds of church buildings that have been razed down. 

“Those claiming that  Muslims are also being killed, should show Trump a Muslim-dominated area in the North that was attacked the way we have Christian communities destroyed in Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Benue and other areas. 

“What’s the philosophy of these attackers? What agenda are they driving? What is their slogan as they mull down their victims, mostly Christians and non-Muslims?,” the statement said.

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