President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has condemned the killing of Christians by Islamist extremists in Nigeria, describing the acts as “barbaric, inhumane, and unacceptable.”
In a post shared on January 29, 2024, the President stated that “the slaughtering of Christian worshippers is strongly condemnable. It calls to question the competence of leadership to protect Nigerians.”
His remarks followed a wave of deadly attacks on Christian communities in Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, and Niger States, where hundreds have been killed and displaced.
However, Tinubu’s comments come amid growing criticism that his administration continues to deny allegations of an ongoing Christian genocide in Nigeria a stance many observers describe as hypocritical, given his strong condemnation of past attacks under previous governments.
According to data from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), over 15,600 Christians have been killed in Nigeria since Tinubu took office in 2023. In just the first seven months of 2025, at least 7,087 Christians were reportedly murdered, with another 7,800 abducted by extremist and militia groups.
Despite these alarming figures, official government statements have consistently rejected the label of “genocide,” describing the violence instead as “criminal acts by bandits and terrorists.”
Critics argue that such denials contradict Tinubu’s own earlier statements and undermine Nigeria’s commitment to religious equality. Religious leaders, including the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), have repeatedly called on the government to recognize the scale of persecution and act decisively to protect vulnerable communities.
Tinubu’s position on religion and politics has long been controversial. In 2015, he sought to become the running mate of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, but Buhari declined, citing fears that a Muslim-Muslim ticket could divide the country. Tinubu later selected Kashim Shettima, also a Muslim, as his running mate in 2023 a decision that sparked outrage among many Christians and civil rights groups.
Tinubu was also one of Buhari’s strongest allies during the 2015 elections, when the All-Progressives Congress (APC) defeated then-President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. At the time, Tinubu accused Jonathan’s administration of failing to protect Nigerians from Boko Haram’s violence.
Now, with thousands of Christians slaughtered during his own tenure, critics say his administration’s denial of a coordinated religious genocide raises troubling questions about accountability and moral consistency.
