*No Such Thing Here, Govt Insists
Respected US Senator Ted Cruz (Republican -Texas) yesterday claimed that Nigeria’s Federal Government (FG) is aware and tolerant of official policies aggravating what he described as Christian persecution,but allegedly failed to do anything to stop same.
He listed the policies to include enforcement of Sharia law and extremist Islamic violence which,he said,led to persecution and slaughter of Christians.
Strongly advising government to immediately terminate such policies, Sen. Cruz said rather what government is doing is to engage in media manipulation “to escape exposure and accountability.”
In a statement he posted on his X account on Friday, Cruz also spoke about a PR campaign being waged by the FG to fight the accusations.
He wrote: “Nigerian officials know their policies have created an environment in which Christians are being persecuted and slaughtered, including their enforcement of sharia law and their tolerance of Islamist violence,” Cruz said (via Fox News Digital).
“Instead of reversing these policies, they are waging a media campaign to escape exposure and accountability. I intend to prevent them from doing so.”
Foreign Minister Defends FG
The senator’s fresh claim came after Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, recently spoke about Christian genocide in Nigeria on UK broadcaster, Piers Morgan Uncensored.
After the interview, Tuggar sought that Piers Morgan airs the full interview unedited and not subject it to editing which,to him,could lead to content being possibly mutilated in the process.
Communicating his desires and fears via a post, he wrote:“I appeared on @piersmorgan’s flagship programme, @PiersUncensored, where I presented a factual and contextual perspective on the misleading narratives and allegations of religious persecution in Nigeria.
“My explanations, supported by verifiable data, may not have conformed to certain preconceived views.
“However, for the sake of integrity and transparency, it is essential that the full interview be aired exactly as recorded, without edits or selective omissions. Nigeria’s truth must not be distorted to fit external biases.”
You Seem To Be Panicking,Minister, Morgan Tells Tuggar
In a direct quote to the post, Morgan waved away suggestions of editing of the interview.
He posted: “You seem to be panicking, Foreign Minister. Rest assured, we will air your comments in full, the show is called Uncensored for a reason. Whether people believe what you said remains to be seen.”
Recall that US President Donald Trump had designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) about two weeks ago.
Justifying his action, Trump pointed to what he described as ongoing violence against Christians and the FG’s failure to protect religious minorities.
He described Nigeria’s Christians as “my CHERISHED Christians”, taking care to write the word ‘Cherished’ in all-capital letters, probably for emphasis sake.
Furthermore, Trump disclosed that he had asked the Department of War to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria to root out the terrorists if the FG “continues to allow the killing of Christians.”
President Bola Tinubu, Presidency officials and Tuggar have denied the claim, saying rather the country enjoys religious harmony.
However, several Christian leaders have come out to back Trump’s position even as leading Muslim clerics opposed the claim by the Christian leaders,some asserting that Muslims were also being killed in the continuing violence.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Sen. Cruz.
