MINISTER of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Monday, faulted claims that Christians were being killed in Nigeria under the President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria, Wike said the narrative of genocide under Tinubu’s administration is “politics taken too far”.
“It is an indictment that a government I am serving, anybody will allege that that government is supporting genocide, killing of Christians and I am still in that government.
“This is politics taken too far. The Inspector General of Police is a Christian, the Director General of the Department of State Services is a Christian, the Chief of Defence (Staff) is a Christian.
“Tell me how any right-thinking person will think that we will sit in a government and support the killing of our own people?” he queried.
According to Wike, the killings of Nigerians in any part of the country do not bring joy to any Nigerian leader.
In an explosive post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, US President Trump said that he had asked the Pentagon to map out a possible plan of attack in Nigeria, one day after warning that Christianity was “facing an existential threat” in Africa’s most populous country.
In his post, Trump said that if Nigeria did not stem the killings, the United States would attack and “it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians”.
Trump on Sunday also repeated his threat of a military operation in Nigeria over the killings of Christians, after the Nigerian presidency suggested a meeting to resolve the issue.
Asked if he was considering US troops on the ground in Nigeria or air strikes, Trump replied, “Could be, I mean, a lot of things, I envisage a lot of things.”
“They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” he added.
When asked if he was worried about Trump’s possible invasion of Nigeria, Wike did not categorically reply to the question.
Weighing in on whether Trump was playing politics, the Minister said, “There could be some misinformation or distortion. It’s unfortunate.”