Nigeria’s mission to the United Nations has protested its exclusion from a U.S.-hosted discussion in which rapper Nicki Minaj alleged that Christians in Nigeria are being targeted and killed.
Syndoph Endoni, chargé d’affaires at Nigeria’s UN mission, said U.S. officials barred Nigerian representatives from attending the event at UN headquarters on Tuesday, despite the discussion centering on allegations of Christian persecution in the country.
“It is important to ensure the country concerned in the ongoing allegations of genocide against Christians is present, aware and has a voice in the matter,” Endoni said, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He described the decision as akin to “shaving our head in our absence.”
Minaj, who was invited by Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, told participants that Christians in Nigeria “are being targeted, driven from their homes, and killed.”
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Endoni said Patricia Mahoney, a senior U.S. adviser on African affairs, had visited the Nigerian House in New York to inform him of the event, noting that several UN member states and a Nigerian pastor were invited. But Mahoney reportedly clarified that no Nigerian government officials would be permitted to attend because the session was “private.”
The Nigerian envoy said the U.S. approach amounted to naming and shaming and could cause “apprehension” at home. He maintained that the government is not ignoring security challenges.
NAN reported that U.S. officials cited concerns for the safety of some participants as the reason for excluding Nigerian representatives.
