Across the world, some voices are deliberately painting Nigeria’s complex security challenges as a “religious war” between Muslims and Christians. This narrative is not only false but extremely dangerous. It risks pouring fuel on existing crises and igniting fresh hostility in a country where unity is already fragile.
For decades, whenever violent clashes erupted — in Jos, Kaduna, Benue, or elsewhere — both Muslim and Christian groups have at different times accused each other of “genocide.” Yet, careful investigation often revealed the root causes: land disputes, ethnic rivalries, political manipulation, and criminal opportunism. Religion was usually the banner under which anger was mobilised, but rarely the actual cause.
Take Boko Haram for example. Since its emergence in Borno in 2009, it has unleashed unimaginable violence. Western media often highlight attacks on churches, but the hard truth is this: the majority of Boko Haram’s victims are Muslims. The group has bombed mosques, assassinated imams, and slaughtered entire Muslim villages it considers “apostates.” Christians have also suffered terribly — but the group’s violence has never been confined to one faith. To call Boko Haram a “Muslims versus Christians” movement is propaganda, not reality.
Similarly, banditry in the Northwest pits Fulani herders against Hausa/Fulani communities — both overwhelmingly Muslim. In the Middle Belt, the herder–farmer conflict is often portrayed as religious. Yet, at its heart, it is a struggle for land, water, and survival in the face of climate change and population pressure. Because many herders are Muslim and many farmers are Christian, outsiders easily label it “religious war.” In truth, both Muslims and Christians have been perpetrators and victims.
Here lies the greatest danger: if Nigerians allow these lies to take root, we will start seeing our neighbours not as brothers and sisters, but as enemies to destroy. That is exactly what propagandists want — to plunge Nigeria especially the North into permanent bloodshed, weaken the nation, and create space for criminals and terrorists to thrive. Once the fire of religious hatred is lit, it is almost impossible to quench. This is why every Muslim and every Christian must urgently reject these divisive narratives before they consume us all.
But let us also be vigilant about a new propaganda wave sweeping through the North today — campaigns designed to pit Hausa against Fulani, just as they have tried to set Muslim against Christian. These dangerous whispers are not innocent debates; they are carefully crafted poison meant to create suspicion, widen gaps, and trigger fresh crises in our region. Shockingly, some of these campaigns are being pushed and amplified by disgruntled Nigerians who would rather see the country burn than face their own irrelevance. Northerners must not fall for this trap.
Yet, rejecting propaganda does not mean ignoring our pain. Dialogue is still possible. Christians and Muslims must talk, not through the lens of fear, but through the reality of shared suffering. Both faiths have buried loved ones, both have seen villages burned, both cry out for justice. Instead of allowing outsiders to tell us who our enemies are, we must listen to each other, build trust, and work together to tackle the real problems: insecurity, poverty, corruption, and injustice.
Muslims and Christians must resist this trap. We must remember:
• Every region of Nigeria has both Christians and Muslims living side by side.
• Our armed forces are made up of both faiths, united in defending every Nigerian life.
• Our true enemies are terrorists, criminals, and opportunists who thrive on chaos — not our neighbours in faith.
The blood of innocent Nigerians, whether shed in a church or a mosque, is equally sacred. Unity, not suspicion, is the only way forward. Nigeria has enough real problems; we must not add a false religious war to the list.
Final Word
If we allow propaganda to divide Muslims from Christians and Hausa from Fulani, then we have already given victory to our enemies without a fight. But if we stand together — as one people under God — no amount of lies, campaigns, or conspiracies can break Nigeria.
Qur’an (49:13): “O mankind! We created you from a single male and female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. The most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.”
Bible (John 17:21): “That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
