Data Shows More Muslims Are Killed Because These Killings Have Been Taking Place in the North- Bwala

The Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, has rejected the narrative that violence in the country disproportionately targets the Christians.

During an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, Bwala asserted that data indicates Muslims are the more frequent victims of the ongoing security crisis, particularly in the northern states like his home state of Borno, due to the geographical concentration of the killings.

He emphasized the government’s stance is to view the challenge as a national security issue affecting all citizens, rather than adopting a “narrow thinking of Christian or Muslim genocide” often championed by external and internal groups.

Bwala said, “In all the places were Muslims were killed, it was not circumstantial. Data shows more Muslims are killed because these killings have been taking place in the north. In Borno State were I come from, the killings more in number affect the Muslims. As a government we don’t want to say Muslims or Christians, we just think there is a problem we are solving. If some people come with this narrow thinking of Christian or Muslim genocide, they take up the issue which is the responsibility of the government.”

Bwala’s comments came amid diplomatic spat with the United States.

The United States government had recently escalated tensions by designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act, citing “particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” and alleging a failure by the Nigerian government to protect its Christian population.

The announcement, spearheaded by U.S. President Donald Trump, was accompanied by a threat of potential military action against Nigeria.

President Trump had stated that the US government would cut off aid and was preparing for “possible action” to wipe out Islamic terrorists committing atrocities, demanding that Nigeria act decisively to halt the mass killings of Christians.

The Nigerian government rejected both the CPC designation and the military threat, pushing back against the allegations of religious persecution and Christian genocide.

Officials, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly, defended Nigeria’s constitutional guarantee of religious freedom and insisted that the country’s security crisis is complex, driven by insurgency, banditry, and farmer-herder conflicts that affect citizens of all faiths.

The government’s engagement with the U.S. has focused on constructive diplomacy, emphasising a desire for continued partnership, particularly in intelligence sharing and counterterrorism training, but maintaining that Nigeria’s sovereignty is non-negotiable.

Officials of the Federal government led by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, have met with their U.S. counterparts, arguing that the American conclusions are based on flawed data and an oversimplification of the crisis, while stressing Nigeria’s determination to defend its stability through dialogue over foreign intervention.

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