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The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has challenged the Federal Government to expose and hold accountable those allegedly behind what it described as a “false and treasonable campaign” portraying Nigeria as a country conducting a genocidal war against Christians.
In a statement issued on Friday and signed by its Deputy National Legal Adviser, Haroun Muhammad Eze, the apex Islamic body said the government’s failure to identify and publicly name the local originators of the “malicious propaganda” was undermining its own efforts to defend the country’s image globally.
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The statement, titled “Let’s Call a Spade a Spade About the Real Enemies of Nigeria,” accused some leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of instigating the false narrative for personal and political gain.
The NSCIA said while it appreciated the “patriotic responses” of several government agencies and the National Assembly in rejecting recent international claims of systematic persecution of Christians, it was concerned that the government stopped short of “speaking the whole truth.”
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“Council wondered why the government could not, at least for once, go the whole hog by calling a spade a spade, by speaking the whole truth,” the statement said.
The NSCIA alleged that certain CAN leaders had “found a big business in self-flagellation,” resorting to “activities that verge on treason” to attract sympathy and funding from foreign interests.
“These elements exploit religious antipathy as an easy pathway to global recognition and fame,” it said.
CAN leaders instigating false genocide campaign – NSCIA
According to the Council, the global perception that Nigeria is unsafe for Christians was being deliberately fuelled by “political desperadoes and religious irredentists” seeking to incite religious conflict and delegitimise the government.
It recalled that during the 2023 presidential elections, a presidential candidate was heard in a leaked audio recording telling a religious leader that the poll was a “religious war,” a development it said was part of a broader effort to divide the country along faith lines.
“When they failed miserably at setting Nigerians against one another, they began seeking to delegitimise the government by venting lies and projecting persecution and victimhood to a global audience,” the NSCIA said.
The Council described as “plainly mendacious” the claims that terrorist groups in Nigeria target Christians alone, saying attacks are indiscriminate and affect adherents of both major religions.
Citing the U.S. State Department’s 2023 International Religious Freedom Report, the NSCIA said terrorists and bandits attack mosques and churches without discrimination. It added that in the first half of 2025 alone, at least 2,266 civilians were killed across Northern Nigeria—mostly Muslim-majority areas—while over two million people were displaced.
The Council also referenced the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) 2025 Annual Report, which it said acknowledged attacks on both faiths, though with what it described as a “tinge of bias against Muslims.”
The NSCIA accused some senior Christian clerics of misleading the international community. It cited a March 2025 appeal by Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi to the U.S. Congress to redesignate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and a recent statement by Rev. Joseph Hayab, Chairman of the Northern CAN, alleging systematic attacks against Christians.
The Council said it was “extremely concerned” that the federal government failed to condemn those claims, noting that a major television station recently gave airtime to Rev. Hayab to repeat the allegations despite rebuttals from the Minister of Information.
The NSCIA, however, acknowledged a more conciliatory comment by a CAN official, who had cautioned against rushing to foreign bodies for sympathy and urged Nigerians to work collectively to end insecurity at home.
“Why run to America when you have a Senate here where you can file your petition? In the end, when they place Nigeria as a country of particular interest, all of us will suffer,” the Council quoted the CAN official as saying.
The NSCIA said it was disappointed that the CAN President had since “restated the false narrative,” showing that “those propagating the falsehood were, in reality, playing the script of CAN.”
‘Islamic terrorism narrative deceptive’
The Council also claimed that some of the terrorist groups labelled “Islamic” were in fact “creations of anti-Islamic interests”.
It further alleged that the propaganda against Muslims was part of an effort to gain “disproportionate dominance” in Nigeria’s political structure, saying the presidency had earlier confirmed that 62 per cent of presidential appointees were Christians “in a country where Muslims are preponderant.”
The NSCIA also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Plateau State, during which he met with Christian leaders at the COCIN Church headquarters without, it said, recognising “the oppressed Muslim minority in the state.”
“It is obvious that the propaganda around the Muslim-Muslim ticket is being successfully used to blackmail and extort the federal government to the detriment of Muslims,” the NSCIA statement said.
The NSCIA expressed concern over what it called discriminatory policies by some federal agencies. It cited a recent circular by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) barring co-insurance arrangements between conventional insurers and Takaful operators, describing the directive as divisive and inconsistent with international best practices.
“This circular of exclusivity violates the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA 2025), recently assented to by Mr President, and is intended to further create a divide between Muslims and non-Muslims in the country,” the Council said.
Despite its strong criticism, the Council reaffirmed its commitment to Nigeria’s unity, saying it had deliberately refrained from responding aggressively to persistent “attacks and insults” against Muslims in order to protect the nation’s corporate existence.
“Council strongly believes in one and indivisible Nigeria and shall continue to work to preserve this ideal even in the face of the greatest provocation,” the statement concluded.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT BY THE NSCIA BELOW
NSCIA/HQ/PRS/088 Date: 18th Rabi’ul Thani 1447 AH
10th October 2025
LET’S CALL A SPADE A SPADE ABOUT THE REAL ENEMIES OF NIGERIA
The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) recently observed the avalanche of refutations by many agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria, well-meaning Nigerians across religious divides and the National Assembly of the recent false allegation circulating on some international platforms and the social media that there is a systematic genocidal campaign against Christians in Nigeria and accused the government of Nigeria of “facilitating the mass murder of Christians.”
Though the NSCIA was particularly struck and appreciative of the sense of duty and patriotism of the government agencies and functionaries, the sole purpose of which was to counteract the negative false narrative constantly being peddled against our country by foreign forces whose primary objective is to create an alibi for the ongoing genocide in the Gaza, Council wondered why the government could not, at least for once, go the whole hog by calling a spade a spade, by speaking the whole truth!
It is common knowledge that the negative profiling that Nigeria currently suffers all around the world is largely the aftermath of the activities of some Nigerian citizens (now revealed as agents of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)) who have found a big business in self-flagellation. These elements have resorted to engaging in activities that verge on treason to achieve material gains. They also exploit transactions in religious antipathy as easy pathways to global recognition and fame.
Thus, Council is surprised that the Federal Government embarked on this otiose voyage of “urging the international media and commentators to act responsibly by avoiding sensationalism and support Nigeria’s efforts against terrorism and other forms of criminality” without referring to the local originators of the false narrative.
Without a shred of doubt, the world is aware that some political desperadoes and religious irredentists have been trying hard to plunge Nigeria into a religious war. During the buildup to the 2023 presidential election, a presidential candidate had actually, in a leaked audio recording, spoken to an Islamophobic religious leader declaring the election as a “religious war”. When they failed miserably at the project to set Nigerians against one another while banking on external support, they began seeking to delegitimise the government in power by venting lies, projecting persecution and victimhood to the global audience while being the masquerade behind the insecurity in the land.
Importuning that terrorist groups, whose religious identities are conflated, are carrying out attacks against Christians alone in Nigeria is plainly mendacious. The U.S. State Department’s 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom notes that terrorists, bandits and armed criminal groups target mosques and churches indiscriminately in Nigeria. In the first half of 2025 alone, terrorists and bandits are reported to have killed at least 2,266 civilians across Northern Nigeria, where Muslims are predominant, leaving over 2 million people displaced and over 7.8 million others in need of urgent aid. Even the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) 2025 Annual Report acknowledges attacks on both faiths, though the tinge of bias against Muslims is still there.
Council wishes to place on record that its decision to be quiet in the face of all the attacks, innuendos and insults being hurled at Muslims in this country is as a result of the necessity of protecting the corporate existence of this nation. Council is equally aware of the fact that whenever arrant falsehood or sheer subterfuge have become fashionable, recourse to reason and ratiocination becomes a categorical imperative. That appeared to have been the case some time in March 2025, when a false alarm was raised by one Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, who appealed to the US Congress to “redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) owing to increased ‘Islamist’ attacks against Christians.” Also, about a week ago, there was a similar false allegation on the same subject by Rev. Joseph Hayab, Chairman of Northern Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Council is extremely concerned that no mention or condemnation of these false and odious statements was made by the Federal Government. Indeed, as if they were desirous to show that they were above the law, or that are actually defacto people in power, a popular television station allotted substantial airtime to Rev. Hayab on Monday, 29th September 2025 to, as it were, ‘correct the errors’ committed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation by restating the false narrative that Christians are being targeted and persecuted across Nigeria.
While all these were on, the Council, in its own tradition, refrained from joining issues, on the assumption that there is a ray of light from CAN, when its Director of National Issues and Social Welfare, stated that:
Sometimes, our situation is being taken advantage of by groups who know what they benefit from foreign interests. Those foreign interests have a right to poke their nose into what’s going on in our system, but we also have a right to report things as they are.
Yes, it’s concerning that this insurgency is lasting too long. Also, the spate of killings does not take any pattern. If they open fire in a marketplace, the bullets don’t look for a Christian or spare a Muslim or even spare a baby.
So, all we must be doing now is adopt an all-of-society action to stop this insurgency and also address issues of groupthink. Why run to America when you have a Senate here where you can file your petition? In the end, when they place Nigeria as a country of particular interest, all of us will suffer. But those who run abroad to look for sympathy know why they do that.
The Council is, however, extremely disappointed by the false proclamation of the CAN President, which has now shown clearly that the individuals who were propagating the falsehood were, in reality, playing the scripts of CAN.
When the Chiefs of Defence and Army were Muslims, the complaint from CAN was that both were complicit, but now that all service chiefs, except one, are Christians, another culprit has to be created by CAN to malign Islam and the Muslims. Is it a secret that some of the terrorist groups being paraded as Islamic were creations of anti-Islamic groups? Mrs Hilary Clinton, for instance, publicly acknowledged that the United States of America created Al-Qaeda, which is being projected as Islamic.
The NSCIA is aware that these propagandas are meant to serve some inglorious purposes, including disproportionate dominance in the current political configuration. The presidency has, in May 2025, asserted that 62% of presidential appointees are Christians in a country where Muslims are preponderant, without a whimper from the Council. Likewise, Mr President’s recent visit to Plateau State incorporated a meeting with Christian leaders at the headquarters of COCIN Church without any recognition for the oppressed Muslim minority in the state! It is thus obvious that the propaganda around the Muslim/Muslim ticket is being successfully used to blackmail and extort the federal government, and to the detriment of the Muslims. The Qur’an is clear that some would be satisfied with a Muslim (no matter how fair, just and equitable) only if the Muslim denounces Islam. The activities of CAN and its local and international proxies are orchestrated to attract further imbalance, undue sympathy, generate international funds and stoke Islamaphobia further. “Surely the disbelievers spend their wealth to hinder others from the Path of the Almighty; they shall surely continue to spend it and regret shall (ultimately) be their reward” (Quran 8:36).
It is also of serious concern to the Council how some Federal Government agencies are being used to fight the government by targeting Muslims and Islamic beliefs. A few weeks ago, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) issued a circular prohibiting a co-insurance between the conventional insurers and Takaful Operators without any identified mischief caused by the existing principle and against the established international best practices. This circular of exclusivity, which clearly violates the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA 2025), which was recently assented to by Mr. President, is intended to further create a divide between the Muslims and the non-Muslims in the country.
Council strongly believes in one and indivisible Nigeria, and it shall continue to work to preserve this ideal even in the face of the greatest provocation.
Signed.
Imam Haroun Muhammad Eze, Esq.
Deputy National Legal Adviser
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