The Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC), Nigeria, has strongly rejected recent claims suggesting that Christians are facing a genocide in Nigeria, describing them as dangerous falsehoods meant to inflame division.
The statement comes after American television host Bill Maher alleged on his HBO talk show Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, September 26, that over 100,000 Christians had been killed by “Islamists” in Nigeria and that more than 18,000 churches had been destroyed. Maher claimed that “they are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country.”
MPAC dismissed these remarks as “agenda-driven, alarmist, and unsubstantiated,” noting that such narratives are chiefly pushed by Islamophobic voices at home and abroad. The organization warned that they not only misrepresent Nigeria’s reality but also harm national unity and undermine ongoing efforts to fight terrorism.
Violence in Nigeria Targets All Faiths
According to MPAC, Nigeria’s security challenges are complex and tragic but not religious in nature. Terrorists and criminal gangs have killed Muslims, Christians, and even those with no religious affiliation. In fact, the group stressed, Muslims remain the majority of victims due to the geographic concentration of attacks in Nigeria’s Muslim-dominated northern states.
“Every Nigerian life lost—Muslim or Christian—is a national tragedy,” MPAC stated. “Attempts to reframe the crisis as a religious war are inaccurate and dangerous. They serve only the terrorists’ agenda to divide Nigerians and weaken our resilience.”
The organization also highlighted unresolved questions about foreign involvement in Nigeria’s insecurity. Earlier this year, U.S. Congressman Scott Perry accused the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) of indirectly funding Boko Haram and other terrorist networks in Nigeria. MPAC urged the Nigerian government to investigate all allegations of terrorism financing and arms supply, whether linked to Boko Haram, bandits, or any other violent group.
MPAC contrasted Nigeria’s situation with events in Gaza, where it said Christians are genuinely being targeted. According to the group, Israel’s ongoing military campaign—backed by U.S. weapons and funding—has destroyed churches, killed Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike, and uprooted entire communities.
“The war crimes being committed in Gaza are widely acknowledged by the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and multiple United Nations bodies,” MPAC said. “If those amplifying false claims about Nigeria truly care about persecuted Christians, their conscience should lead them to Gaza.”
MPAC reiterated that Nigeria is a multi-religious nation with a long history of tolerance and peaceful coexistence. While terrorism has left behind countless Muslim widows, orphans, and displaced people in IDP camps, the organization stressed that both Muslims and Christians continue to stand together in grief, resistance, and hope.
The group called on Nigerians to remain vigilant and united, while urging the international community to avoid selective, Islamophobic advocacy and instead push for an end to terrorism in all its forms, including state-sponsored atrocities such as those unfolding in Palestine.
