Violence In North-West Driven By Economy, Not Religion — SGF

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has said that the widespread killings and displacement in Nigeria’s North-West region were driven by economic interests, not religion, debunking claims that Christians were being targeted in a coordinated genocide.

Akume made the clarification in a detailed press statement issued on Wednesday, stressing that both Muslims and Christians have suffered equally from the actions of insurgents, bandits, and other violent groups operating in different parts of the country.

According to him, the evolution of insecurity in Nigeria has unfolded along two major lines: the ideological insurgency in the North-East, championed by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and the profit-driven criminal banditry spreading across the North-West.

He explained that banditry in the North-West—which escalated from 2018—was fuelled by economic pressures such as cattle rustling, illegal mining, kidnapping-for-ransom, extortion, and competition for land and water resources intensified by desertification, not religious extremism.

“Victims of these violent groups include Christians, Muslims, and traditionalists,” the SGF stated, adding that no credible international institution has ever classified Nigeria’s crisis as a genocide against Christians or any other group.

Akume linked the rise of Boko Haram and ISWAP to the destabilisation that followed the 2011 collapse of Libya and instability in Egypt, which allowed Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to flood the Sahel with looted weapons and extremist ideology.

He noted that these arms flowed through smuggling routes into West Africa and strengthened Nigeria’s insurgency, later spilling into the economic banditry networks in the North-West.

The SGF recalled that before 2010, Nigeria had no legal or institutional framework to combat terrorism. The 1st October 2010 bombing in Abuja, masterminded by Henry Okah, exposed the gap and led to the enactment of the Terrorism Prevention Act in 2011 and its amendment in 2013.

“These laws empowered our agencies to track terrorism financing, enhance intelligence cooperation, and build the counter-terrorism framework we use today,” he said.

Akume cited the June 2025 attack on Yelewata in Guma LGA of Benue State, where dozens of residents were killed and thousands displaced. He said President Bola Tinubu immediately dispatched him to the affected communities with relief materials, followed by a presidential visit to victims in hospital.

According to him, the President has ordered a full census of destroyed properties and approved funds for the reconstruction of affected communities.

The SGF emphasised that Nigeria’s Armed Forces are competent, experienced, and have reclaimed vast territories from insurgents.

He said what the country needs from partners like the United States is intelligence cooperation, technology, and military equipment—not foreign boots on the ground.

He also warned that recent public pronouncements from the United States have unintentionally emboldened violent groups looking to exploit international narratives.

Nigeria, he reiterated, is a secular state as guaranteed by the Constitution, with no adopted national religion and equal representation of Christians and Muslims in the Federal Executive Council, including the security council.

He warned that mischaracterising the conflict as genocide fuels dangerous religious tension, emboldens extremist factions, and undermines Nigeria’s security partnerships.

Akume said addressing the security challenges requires intensified operations, deeper intelligence-sharing with allies, stronger measures against illegal mining and trafficking, and improved border surveillance.

“As the largest democracies in Africa and the world, Nigeria and the United States have a shared responsibility to work together to promote global stability and confront extremist threats,” he said.

He urged Nigerians across all divides to unite against a common enemy.

“Terrorists, bandits, and extremist insurgents must be completely eradicated from our national borders,” he said.