The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has strongly condemned what it described as “reckless, arrogant, and provocative” remarks by the U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently threatened military action against Nigeria under the claim of “Christian genocide.”
Addressing journalists at the CNG national secretariat in Abuja, the group’s national coordinator, Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, said Trump’s statement was not only “ignorant but dangerous,” warning that it distorts Nigeria’s complex security challenges and deepens sectarian fault lines at a time when citizens are striving for unity and peace.
Charanchi said Trump’s outburst was instigated by what he called a “manipulated petition” by Amnesty International, which allegedly used its Nigeria Country Director, Isa Sunusi, to push a “toxic Western narrative.”
According to him, the “so-called genocide against Christians” is a deliberate fabrication aimed at justifying foreign interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs.
“There is no genocide against Christians in Nigeria. There is a national security crisis affecting all Nigerians — Muslims, Christians, and others alike,” the CNG leader declared.
The group cited verified figures from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) showing that between January 2020 and September 2025, over 20,400 civilians were killed in violent attacks nationwide.
Of these, 317 Christian deaths and 417 Muslim deaths were recorded in incidents where religion could be verified.
“The data clearly disproves the Western media’s exaggerated portrayal of Christians as exclusive victims,” Charanchi stated.
He added that in 2024 alone, 86 percent of violent deaths occurred in the northern region, predominantly affecting Muslim communities.
CNG also referenced the comments of security analyst Bulama Bukarti, who recently noted that “Boko Haram and ISWAP kill Muslims and Christians alike but their largest victims are Muslims, by far.”
The group listed several deadly incidents ignored by international media, including:
The killing of 21 people in Baure, Katsina State on January 11, 2025; The August 19, 2025 massacre of 50 worshippers during dawn prayers in Malumfashi; and Continuous bandit attacks across Zamfara between March and October 2025.
“These atrocities rarely make international headlines because the victims were Muslims, not Christians,” the CNG lamented.
It also recalled the 2015 Zaria massacre, in which over 340 Shiite Muslims were killed, noting that despite satellite evidence and reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, no U.S. administration — including Trump’s — condemned the killings.
CNG criticised the United States and other Western actors for “romanticizing” the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) while ignoring what it described as IPOB’s “terrorist attacks” against Northerners in the South-East.
“Trump and his enablers remain silent because it doesn’t fit their pre-packaged narrative of Christian victimhood,” Charanchi said.
The coalition accused the U.S. of using “human rights advocacy” as a cover for geopolitical manipulation, resource control, and neo-colonial pressure.
“Trump’s sudden concern for persecuted Christians is a smokescreen,” the group said.
“His true grievance is Nigeria’s growing diplomatic independence, its closer ties with China, Russia, and the Global South, and its refusal to submit to Western dictates.”
