The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has expressed concerns over the press release by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responding to recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the large-scale killings of Christians in Nigeria.
President Trump had ordered the military to prepare for action in Nigeria to tackle Islamist militant groups, accusing the government of failing to protect Christians.
Claims of a genocide against Nigeria’s Christians have been circulating in recent weeks and months in some right-wing US circles, although groups monitoring violence say there is no evidence to suggest that Christians are being killed more than Muslims in Nigeria.
The Nigerian government, through the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has also rejected the claims, insisting that they do not reflect the situation on the ground, and that Nigerians of all faiths have long lived, worked, and worshipped together peacefully.
But, in a statement on Sunday, while acknowledging that many of the atrocities are perpetrated by non-state actors, including armed herders, Islamist extremists, and bandits, the RULAAC emphasized that the core issue is state responsibility.
The statement signed by the RULAAC Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said the primary duty of any government is to protect the lives and rights of all citizens, regardless of faith, ethnicity, or region.
According to him, when mass killings persist for years, with consistent warning signs, repeated attacks on the same communities, and no meaningful accountability, it becomes difficult to separate government failure from government complicity.
Nwanguma made it clear that when the government fails to prevent massacres despite prior intelligence or visible threats, it is no longer mere misfortune, but negligence that results in death is culpability.
He also highlighted the existing culture of impunity, which fuels recurrence, adding that each time perpetrators go unpunished, the state sends a clear message that they can get away with wrongdoings.
“When security forces respond swiftly and brutally to peaceful protesters or political dissenters, yet move sluggishly or not at all when churches, villages, and schools are attacked, it reflects bias or indifference, both corrosive to public trust in the rule of law.
“Whether through incompetence (inability to act) or complicity (unwillingness to act), the outcome is the same: Christians and other vulnerable groups are being killed with impunity. This represents a national tragedy and a moral indictment of any government that claims legitimacy,” he said.
The RULAAC boss called on the Nigerian government to go beyond denial and diplomatic rebuttals, and to take urgent, transparent, and verifiable actions to strengthen intelligence and early warning systems in conflict-prone areas, ensure prompt investigation, arrest, and prosecution of perpetrators regardless of identity or affiliation, and rebuild public confidence through equal protection of all communities.
“Nigeria’s credibility will not be restored by dismissing international concern but by demonstrating accountability at home,” Nwanguma posited.
