The Federal Government has rejected allegations of religious persecution following United States President Donald Trump’s threat of possible military intervention over the killing of Christians in the country, AFP reported.
The Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar, speaking at a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday, said the country’s constitution does not permit discrimination or persecution based on religion.
“There can’t be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level,” Tuggar said.
The US president had written on social media that he had instructed the Pentagon to map out a possible plan of attack because they’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers.
Tuggar dismissed the claims, stressing that Nigeria has a “constitutional commitment to religious freedom and rule of law.”
Standing beside his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, Tuggar warned against external attempts to divide Nigeria along religious lines.
“What we are trying to make the world understand is that we should not create another Sudan.
“We’ve seen what has happened with Sudan with agitations for the partitioning of Sudan based on religion, based on tribal sentiments, and you can see the crisis even when the partitioning was done according to religion or according to tribe,” Tuggar added.
Trump alleged that thousands of Christians are being killed and that radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.
FG has consistently denied that Christians are being targeted more than other groups in the country’s security challenges.
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