The lawmaker representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume, debunked a claim by a United States lawmaker, Senator Ted Cruz, that Christians are being subjected to genocide in Nigeria.
Ndume, who appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, described the allegation as false and unfounded.
According to him, the claim was capable of misrepresenting Nigeria’s security situation before the international community.
“What Ted Cruz and co said is not true. It is not true to say Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria,” the Borno-born politician said.
“This thing came from Ted Cruz and it dates back to 2020. In fact, Donald Trump, in his first term, designated us as CPC — Countries of Particular Concern — where a group of religious believers of any type are being persecuted. That means sanctions will be applied.”
He maintained that insecurity in Nigeria should not be reduced to religious persecution, stressing that victims of attacks across the country cut across different faiths and ethnicities.
Ndume called on international observers to seek accurate information rather than rely on misleading reports.
His comments followed a statement by Senator Cruz, who had accused the Nigerian government of enabling a “massacre” against Christians.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Cruz claimed that about 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009, while over 2,000 schools and 18,000 churches were destroyed by “Islamist armed groups.”
Cruz also announced the introduction of a bill in the US Senate seeking sanctions against Nigerian officials whom he accused of “ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senate has also dismissed the allegations, describing them as false, divisive, and potentially harmful to national unity.
During Thursday’s plenary, lawmakers debated a motion titled “Urgent Need to Correct Misconceptions Regarding the Purported ‘Christian Genocide’ Narrative in Nigeria and International Communities.”
The Senate resolved to work closely with the Federal Government to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts and enhance public communication to prevent the spread of misinformation about Nigeria’s internal security challenges.
Lawmakers further urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to engage diplomatically with the United States to clarify Nigeria’s position and ensure accurate representation of the nation’s security realities in the global arena.
