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FACT-CHECK: How True Is Trump’s Claim Of Christian Genocide In Nigeria?

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"eKUYO0Ec" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa<&sol;p><div class&equals;"azDkpdIJ" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The US&comma; on Friday&comma; October 31&comma; 2025&comma; under President Donald Trump’s administration has redesignated Nigeria as a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;country of particular concern” over allegations of genocide against Christians&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Nigerian Tracker News has learnt that the Christian genocide narrative in Nigeria supposedly gained traction after the address of Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the United Nations last week&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Shettima had said the situation in Gaza was &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;heart-wrenching” and demanded an immediate ceasefire that would birth Palestinians independence and create homes of their own on territories already recognised by the UN and international law&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"KAkcgqpk" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>He said a two-state solution remained the most viable path to peace and warned that continued neglect of international law only fuels propaganda and undermines global stability&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Many&comma; including a Vatican Cardinal&comma; had rejected the claim&comma; saying both Christians and Muslims were victims of insecurity in Nigeria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It&&num;8217&semi;s quite surprising hearing such claim coming from Trump because&comma; earlier this month&comma; Massad Boulos&comma; Senior Adviser to Trump for Arab and African Affairs&comma; dismissed persistent claims of a Christian genocide in Nigeria — insisting that terrorism in the country affects people of all faiths&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking in Rome&comma; Italy&comma; during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the sidelines of the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government summit&comma; Boulos countered allegations by some U&period;S&period; lawmakers who had called for Nigeria to be designated a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;country of particular concern” &lpar;CPC&rpar; over alleged persecution of Christians&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite such unambiguous stand by his Senior Adviser on the matter&comma; in a post on social Media&comma; on Friday&comma; Trump said Christianity was facing an existential threat in Nigeria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria&period; Thousands of Christians are being killed&period; Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter&period; I am hereby making Nigeria a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it&period; When Christians&comma; or any such group&comma; is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria &lpar;3&comma;100 versus 4&comma;476 Worldwide&rpar;&comma; something must be done&excl;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;I am asking Congressman Riley Moore&comma; together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee&comma; to immediately look into this matter&comma; and report back to me&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria&comma; and numerous other Countries&period; We stand ready&comma; willing&comma; and able to save our Great Christian population around the World&excl;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While some blamed his utterances on ignorance of what really transpires here in Nigeria on the said issue&comma; others brand him as a deliberately mischievous being&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>What Does The Term &&num;8220&semi;Country Of A Particular Concern&&num;8221&semi; Mean&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the US&comma; a Country of Particular Concern &lpar;CPC&rpar; is a designation by the United States Secretary of State &lpar;under authority delegated by the President&rpar; of a country responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act &lpar;IRFA&rpar; of 1998 &lpar;H&period;R&period; 2431&rpar; and its amendment of 1999 &lpar;Public Law 106-55&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The term &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;particularly severe violations of religious freedom” means systematic&comma; ongoing&comma; egregious violations of religious freedom&comma; including violations such as&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>a&rpar; Torture or cruel&comma; inhuman&comma; or degrading treatment or punishment&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;b&rpar; Prolonged detention without charges&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;c&rpar; Causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction or clandestine detention of those persons&semi; or<br &sol;>&NewLine;d&rpar; Other flagrant denials of the right to life&comma; liberty&comma; or the security of persons&period; Nations so designated are subject to further actions&comma; including economic sanctions&comma; by the United States&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Historically&comma; this newspaper recalled that this is the second time that the US government is branding Nigeria as a Country Of Particular Concern&comma; as the first one was reported to had happened in December&comma; 2020&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Data Speaks<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nigerian Tracker News&comma; in its quest to make the world know the authenticity of the president&&num;8217&semi;s claim&comma; made a thorough investigation into the matter by presenting records of violence and killings in each of the six geo political zones in Nigeria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The North West and North East regions have been the most severely affected by killings in Nigeria in recent years&period; The violence in Nigeria is driven by a mix of factors including insurgency &lpar;Boko Haram and ISWAP&rpar;&comma; banditry&comma; and farmer-herder clashes&comma; with different regions experiencing different primary threats&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>North West<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This region has recorded the highest number of overall murder cases and kidnappings recently&comma; with banditry and associated criminal activities being the primary causes&period; States like Zamfara&comma; Kaduna&comma; and Katsina have been major flashpoints&period; In the period between May 2023 and April 2024&comma; the North West alone recorded an estimated 206&comma;030 murder cases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>North East<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Historically&comma; this region has been the epicenter of the Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgencies&period; Borno State&comma; in particular&comma; has experienced the highest number of insurgency-related fatalities&period; The conflict has resulted in hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect deaths since 2009&comma; with an estimated 188&comma;992 cases reported between May 2023 and April 2024&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>North Central &lpar;Middle Belt&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This region is frequently affected by long-standing and escalating conflicts between predominantly Fulani herders and mostly Hausa farmers over land and water resources&period; Benue and Plateau states have experienced significant mass killings and displacement due to these clashes&comma; with Benue recording the highest death toll in the two years since President Bola Tinubu took office &lpar;May 2023 &&num;8211&semi; May 2025&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Southern Regions &lpar;South East&comma; South South&comma; South West&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While experiencing significant crime&comma; including cultism&comma; kidnapping for ransom&comma; and road accidents&comma; these regions generally have lower levels of large-scale killings compared to the northern and central regions&period; The South West reported the least number of murder cases between May 2023 and April 2024&period; The South East has seen an increase in violence related to separatist agitation and other criminal activities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>National Bureau of Statistics &lpar;NBS&rpar; Report &lpar;May 2023 &&num;8211&semi; April 2024&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This report highlights the North West &lpar;206&comma;030 cases&rpar; and North East &lpar;188&comma;992 cases&rpar; as having the highest number of murder cases nationally&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Amnesty International Reports&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Various reports from Amnesty International have consistently documented the failure of authorities to protect rural communities&comma; particularly in the North West and North Central&comma; from attacks by armed groups&comma; leading to thousands of deaths and a looming humanitarian crisis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>UN and Research Think Tanks&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Reports from the UN Development Programme &lpar;UNDP&rpar; and the International Crisis Group provide in-depth analysis of the root causes of the violence&comma; such as competition over resources&comma; weak governance&comma; and the proliferation of arms&comma; confirming the north of the country as the most violent&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Causes of Violence by Region &lpar;In Summary&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Region Primary Causes of Violence<br &sol;>&NewLine;North West&colon; Banditry&comma; kidnappings&comma; criminal activities<br &sol;>&NewLine;North East&colon; Insurgency &lpar;Boko Haram&comma; ISWAP&rpar;<br &sol;>&NewLine;North Central&colon; Farmer-herder clashes &lpar;land&comma; water resources&rpar;<br &sol;>&NewLine;South East &colon; Separatist agitation&comma; cultism&comma; kidnappings<br &sol;>&NewLine;South South &colon; Cultism&comma; kidnapping for ransom&comma; road accidents<br &sol;>&NewLine;South West&colon; Crime &lpar;including cultism&comma; kidnapping&rpar;&comma; relatively lower large-scale killings<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A critical observation of the information above makes it clear that Donald Trump&&num;8217&semi;s claim of a Christian genocide in Nigeria is false&comma; because the two regionsthe South-East and South-South which are predominantly Christian environments&comma; are suffering from violence unrelated to religion&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5" id&equals;"quads-ad5" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1004305389"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; 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