Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: THE Nigerian Federal Government has rejected claims of religious persecution contained in a recent joint report by two United States congressional committees.
The US House committees investigating the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria had formally submitted their findings to President Donald Trump.
In a statement issued to journalists on February 24 in Abuja, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the government had carefully reviewed the recommendations in the report submitted to the White House by the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the United States House Committee on Appropriations.
He acknowledged that parts of Nigeria continue to face serious security challenges, including terrorism, banditry and communal conflicts, which have resulted in loss of lives and destruction of property.
“The Federal Government remains deeply concerned about the tragic impact of these criminal acts on communities across the country, and we extend our sympathies to all victims and their families, regardless of faith, ethnicity or region,” the statement read. The Government firmly dismissed suggestions of state-sponsored religious persecution, stressing that Nigeria does not have, and has never had, a policy of religious bias.
