Friday, November 14, 2025 - A group of prominent Nigerians under the aegis of Concerned Nigerian Citizens has urged President Bola Tinubu to shelve any planned visit to the United States, warning that recent comments by the U.S. President Donald Trump alleging genocide against Christians in Nigeria were provocative and could worsen religious tensions across the country.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Kaduna on Wednesday,
members of the group said the Nigerian government must respond to the country’s
security challenges with restraint and maturity rather than succumb to external
pressure or threats.
The Concerned Nigerian Citizens group is led by a former
Secretary of INEC and elder statesman, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, and includes the
former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Professor
Usman Yusuf, Dr Aliyu Tilde, Dr Bilkisu Oniyangi, and Barrister Kalli Al-Ghazali.
Addressing journalists on behalf of the group, Dr Oniyangi
said Trump’s recent statement on Nigeria’s security situation was “reckless and
disrespectful to Nigeria’s sovereignty,” stressing that such rhetoric could
inflame existing divisions and play into the hands of groups seeking to
destabilise the West African region.
“The recent threats by former U.S. President Donald Trump to
reclassify Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ and even consider
military intervention are not only provocative but capable of deepening
divisions within our country,” Oniyangi said.
“Nigeria’s challenges must be handled with restraint and
maturity. We must never bow to external pressure or manipulation.”
Oniyangi added that the group was worried that international
actors were increasingly portraying Nigeria’s complex security crisis as a
religious war, whereas both Christians and Muslims had been victims of
terrorism, banditry, and violent crime in recent years.
“Those who kill us do not care about our faith. This battle
is between peace-loving Nigerians on one hand and killers on the other. The
attempt to frame it as a genocide against one religion is both inaccurate and
dangerous,” she said.
Thus, the group advised President Tinubu to focus on
strengthening national security and rebuilding public confidence rather than
embarking on foreign trips at a time the country is grappling with widespread
insecurity.
“The President’s prime responsibility is to work for
Nigerians and assure us that our safety will now be his highest priority. He
should resist the temptation to visit the U.S. or any country for now and
concentrate on restoring peace and order,” she added.
The Concerned Nigerian Citizens acknowledged that several
countries, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and Russia,
had expressed concern over Nigeria’s worsening security challenges, but
stressed that what the country needed was partnership and technical
cooperation, not threats or sanctions.
“Nigeria must engage the world from a position of dignity.
We expect the U.S. to withdraw its threats and instead assist Nigeria through
strategic cooperation aimed at defeating terrorists and criminal networks
across the country,” Oniyangi emphasized.
The group also criticised Nigeria’s political leadership for
failing to address the root causes of insecurity, including poverty,
unemployment, corruption, and weak governance.
“The real tragedy is that Nigerians, and particularly our
leaders, are responsible for our circumstances today,” the group’s statement
added.
“We have been poorly led while we died and bled in the hands
of killers. Nigerians must now speak as one and demand that those responsible
for protecting us do their jobs.”
It called on President Tinubu to address the nation directly
to reassure citizens of his administration’s commitment to security and unity.
“Our independence and unity have been tested many times.
This time, too, we will pull through, but the support of genuine friends and
allies is vital,” she insisted.
Trump, in late October, designated
Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” for religious freedom violations,
citing an “existential threat” to Christianity amid what he described as the
mass slaughter of thousands of Christians by radical Islamists, including
groups like Boko Haram.
One day later, the US President posted on social media,
instructing the newly renamed Department of War to prepare for “fast, vicious”
military action.
He also threatened to halt all U.S. aid and potentially
invade “guns-a-blazing” to eliminate the terrorists if the Nigerian government
failed to act decisively.
But President Bola Tinubu had rejected the claims as
misleading and simplistic, insisting that violence in the north-central region
stems from multifaceted conflicts involving herder-farmer disputes, banditry,
and extremism that targets both Muslims and Christians indiscriminately.
Tinubu, however, welcomed collaborative counter-terrorism
efforts that respect sovereignty.
However, the Concerned Nigerian Citizens urged Nigerians to
avoid sectarian arguments and instead unite behind common demands for effective
governance and accountability.
“Foreign interference must never be mistaken for a solution
to Nigeria’s problems. We must find our own answers as a people,” the group
noted.
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