A US congressman has challenged claims by Nigeria’s foreign minister that only 177 Christians have been killed in the country over the past five years, calling the figures “not believable” and urging the Nigerian government to engage more constructively.
Rep. Riley Moore, speaking at a congressional hearing on Thursday, expressed concern over the disparity between official Nigerian statistics and reports by human rights groups. The hearing came as a Nigerian delegation visited Washington to address international concerns over religious violence in the country.
“The foreign minister said in the last five years, there’s only 177 Christians who have been killed,” Moore said. “I don’t think anybody believes that, and I don’t think it’s necessarily constructive on their part to try to downplay what’s happening here.”
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Moore’s remarks follow comments made by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, during an appearance on Piers Morgan’s programme on Tuesday. Tuggar disputed figures from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, which claimed that over 50,000 Christians had been killed in Nigeria since 2009 and 18,000 churches destroyed. The minister said the government does not track deaths by religion, arguing that all victims are “Nigerians first.”
When pressed for numbers, Tuggar claimed that only 177 Christians had died and 102 churches had been attacked in the past five years.
Moore said the figures were difficult to reconcile with reports from civil society groups and suggested that such violence could result in far higher casualties in just a few months.
The congressman added that Nigeria has an opportunity to strengthen its relationship with the United States, but that this would require “coordination and cooperation” between the two governments.
