The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), Prof. Cornelius Omonokhua, has said that both Muslims and Christians are victims of what he described as genocide carried out by terrorists and bandits across the country.
Speaking in Abuja at the closing event of the “Promoting and Protecting Freedom of Religion or Belief” project organised by Search for Common Ground with support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Omonokhua said the scale of killings in Nigeria amounted to a “war on humanity.”
He noted that criminal groups target and kill Nigerians without regard for religious identity.
“Recently, the word genocide has become controversial. But going by the Holy Quran, chapter 5, verse 32, killing one person is like killing an entire humanity. So, is there genocide in Nigeria? Yes. Christians have been massacred, Muslims have been massacred. There is a war on humanity by bandits and terrorists,” he said.
Omonokhua explained that the violence was largely driven by the quest for power and money rather than religion.
“It’s not just about religion. This is about power, and religion is being manipulated to achieve it.”
He urged Nigerians not to allow extremist groups to sow division along religious lines, insisting that NIREC’s work demonstrates that there is no religious war in the country. Instead, he called for unity in confronting insecurity.
“We should not fall into the strategy of the terrorists. There is fire on the mountain, and it is you and I who should put it out.”
Also speaking at the event, Halilu Adamu, Director of Civil and Political Rights at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), who represented the Executive Chairman, Anthony Ojukwu, highlighted persistent challenges such as stereotypes, intolerance, political manipulation, mistrust, and institutional weaknesses.
He stressed that these issues also present opportunities for more engagement and evidence-based actions.
Ojukwu urged Nigerians to prioritise understanding, dialogue, and tolerance, saying that the protection of religious freedom is essential to human dignity, identity, and national peace.
He also acknowledged new equipment donated to the Commission, including 12 toll-free lines to help Nigerians report religious-freedom concerns.
Debate around religious freedom in Nigeria intensified after former U.S. President Donald Trump redesignated the country as a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged attacks on Christians — a move supported by some Christian groups but rejected by the Federal Government.
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