By TruthNigeria Staff
In a move that’s already made global headlines, the United States has redesignated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over escalating anti-Christian massacres. But what no one saw coming is the eruption of rare, public outrage from Nigeria’s Muslim elite, some of whom are now openly siding with Western condemnations of mass Christian killings.
This fracture in Nigeria’s religious establishment marks a historic moment: the silence is finally breaking.
Muslim Voices Break Ranks: ‘This Is About Accountability‘
In 2018, when President Donald Trump asked then-President Muhammadu Buhari, “Why are you killing Christians?” Nigerian Muslim political heavyweight Adamu Garba blasted the U.S. leader.
Today, Garba is singing a different tune.
“The Muslims in this country should not see this as a direct attack against them. Rather, it is a direct attack against militant terrorist organizations… No Muslim should direct their anger towards the Christian population… rather there should be consensus that there is a failure of leadership.”
He’s not alone.
In an interview with TruthNigeria, Abdulrahman Sule, a Muslim teacher from Kaduna State, said the crisis has become “impossible to ignore.”
“We can’t close our eyes anymore. You cannot justify the killings. The government isn’t protecting anyone. If America is calling it out, maybe it will force a change.”
Rabi‘u Musa Kwankwaso, the former governor of Kano state, former defense minister, and 2023 presidential candidate, urged cooperation instead of defensiveness.
Kwankwaso urged the U.S. to support Nigeria with advanced technology to combat terrorism. “The United States should assist the Nigerian authorities with better cutting-edge technology to tackle these problems,” he said. But his own closing words reveal what many Muslim leaders now acknowledge: “This is a moment to emphasize unity of belonging over division.”
A Cracked Wall of Denial
Despite recent attempts by Nigerian officials to dismiss the killings as isolated or exaggerated, the reaction from unexpected voices is striking.
Idris Faro, a prominent Muslim lawyer, argued:
“One cannot deny the senseless killings on the Jos Plateau, Benue, and other northern states. It must be ended immediately.”
Faro warned: “Endless insecurity hampers development and scares investors. No one will invest or tour in a state of fear.”
“The only solution is to prosecute criminals effectively. State police are of paramount importance. Locally recruited officers know their terrain and can identify intruders.”
‘Hypocrisy at Its Peak’
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s own leadership appears more committed to foreign causes than the massacres at home. Just days before the CPC redesignation, Vice President Kashim Shettima condemned Palestinian suffering at the U.N., declaring:
“The people of Palestine are not collateral damage; they are humans entitled to the same freedom and dignity that the rest of us take for granted.”
Nigerians reacted with fury.
“Talking about suffering abroad, while your home burns,” one user posted on X.
“Hypocrisy at its peak. They never address the Christian genocide in Nigeria,” another added.
For many, the public acknowledgement of Christian mass killings by Muslim leaders is not a sign of healing, it’s a sign that things have collapsed so completely, even old guardians of denial can no longer defend the indefensible.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: A War Against Christians
This is not a “farmer-herder clash,” as Abuja loves to insist to Western diplomats. This is an outright war against rural Christian communities.
Between 2019 and 2023 alone, the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) recorded:
· 55,910 deaths
· 21,621 abductions
· 11,610 terror attacks
Christians were killed at a rate 2.7 times higher than Muslims, 6.5 to 1 when adjusted for population.
The killers? A deadly mix of:
· Fulani militias (often linked to Islamist extremism)
· Boko Haram and ISWAP jihadists
· Armed Muslim bandit gangs operating under state apathy
Under President Bola Tinubu, the horror has not waned, it has intensified:
· Terrorist-caused civilian deaths jumped from 9,734 in 2023 to 11,692 in 2024
· Abductions spiked by 139 percent
Yet the government’s answer remains the same: amnesty for terrorists, abandonment for the victims.
“There is a moral collapse in Nigeria,” said Blessing Oreagbe, a Christian media advocate. “The U.S. government just reminded us that every human life is precious.”
Christians Ask: “Where Is Justice for Us?”
For the last decade, the Nigerian government has kidnapped justice itself.
Under “Operation Safe Corridor,” “repentant terrorists” get monthly stipends, free housing, and vocational training. Meanwhile, 8 million displaced Christians from Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, and Nasarawa sleep in makeshift huts and IDP camps with no schooling, no medical care, and no future.
Speaking to TruthNigeria, public affairs analyst Nuel Asoka warned:
“Dialogue with terrorists got us here. Many Christians have been murdered for blasphemy in Sokoto and Kaduna and nothing was done. Western nations are watching. This re-designation is long overdue.”
Others were even more blunt:
“CAN (the Christian Association of Nigeria) is busy dining with politicians. Trump’s re-designation of Nigeria is the slap they won’t forget.”
A pastor in southern Kaduna added: “Unless foreign pressure forces their hand, nothing will change. This is the wake-up call we prayed for.”
