The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Tuesday doubled down on its assertion that Christians in the country are victims of a systematic genocide, rejecting government claims that the violence is merely banditry and accusing authorities of complicity through inaction.
CAN President Archbishop Daniel Okoh told journalists in Abuja that over 52,000 Christians have been killed since 2015, with entire communities wiped out in states like Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and southern Borno, while perpetrators operate with near-total impunity.
“We are not talking about isolated incidents. This is coordinated, targeted extermination of Christians and their way of life,” Okoh declared. “Churches are razed weekly, priests are kidnapped or murdered, and survivors are driven into IDP camps that resemble prisons. If this is not genocide, then the word has lost all meaning.”
He dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s recent denial, stating: “When the government says there is no religious persecution, it is either in denial or deliberately shielding the truth. The pattern is clear: attackers strike Christian areas during Christmas or Easter, they burn Bibles before killing, and they issue quit notices to Christian villages. Yet no one is prosecuted.”
CAN cited fresh data showing 215 churches destroyed and 38 clergy killed or abducted in the first ten months of 2025 alone, with the highest toll recorded in the Middle Belt.
The association demanded immediate designation of the perpetrators as terrorist organisations, deployment of special military task forces, and international investigation, warning: “Silence from the global community now will only embolden the killers.”
Government spokesperson Bayo Onanuga reiterated that “security challenges affect all Nigerians regardless of faith,” insisting the administration is tackling root causes. CAN responded that such statements ring hollow while “Christian blood continues to flow unchecked.”
