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The president of Nigeria, has criticized US senator Ted Cruz for accusing that Nigerian officials were involved, or indifferent to the killing of Christians by Islamic militants.
Senator Cruz, a Republican from Texas, on Friday accused Nigeria’s authority of “ignoring and even facilitating the mass killings of Christians” and announced the proposed proposed accountability of Nigerian religious freedom, who sought sanctions against the officials involved.
Responding to the statement of Senator at X (previously Twitter), a special advisor to the President about information and strategies, Bayo Onanuga, described the claim as “False, Evil, and Use.”
Onanuga stated that Nigerian security challenges came from terrorism, bandits, and general crime, not religious persecution. He stressed that the nation enjoyed the harmony of religion, noting that extremist groups such as Boko Haram and Bandits in the North have targeted both Muslim and Christian.
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“Senator, stop evil lies and made this to my country,” Onanuga wrote. “We do not have a religious war in Nigeria. Boko Terrorists are Haram attacking all people, farmers, soldiers and civilians. Bandits in the northwest of the killer’s assistants in their mosques too. Christians are not targeted.”
Cruz’s statement followed the report that Boko Haram’s guerrillas had invaded Kirawa, a border city in the state of Borno, forcing more than 5,000 residents to flee to Cameroon.
The laws proposed by the senator, introduced to the US senate in September 2025, tried to appoint Nigeria as a country that became a special concern under the International Religious Freedom Law. The bill also called on targeted sanctions, including freezing assets and travel ban, against Nigerian officials, judges, or law enforcement officers suspected of being involved in upholding laws or laws based in sharia or tolerate violence that were motivated in religion.
This bill further directs that Boko Haram and West ISIS-Africa remain registered as an entity that is of special concern and includes a 10-year retrospective window to identify guilty officials. However, this allows the US Secretary to issue neglect if Nigeria stops the law enforcement or if the extremist group becomes inactive.
