Human rights activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has accused both the Nigerian government and the United States of hypocrisy over their handling of widespread killings across the country.
According to the former presidential candidate, the violence is rooted in bad governance and insecurity, not religion.
Sowore, who spoke in reaction to renewed calls by some U.S. lawmakers for Nigeria to be designated a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) over alleged Christian persecution, dismissed the claim as misleading and politically motivated.
“There’s genocide against the poor in this country, there’s genocide against Muslims in this country, there’s genocide against Christians in this country, there’s genocide against children in this country. To now separate it and say maybe it’s one religion or the other, that’s dishonest,” he said.
“Interestingly, Nigeria doesn’t count or do DNA tests on people who are killed to determine whether they are carrying a Bible or a Koran.”
He questioned the logic of foreign powers framing Nigeria’s insecurity through a religious lens while ignoring other mass atrocities globally.
“Why is the U.S. not taking the same position in Gaza, where there’s genocide against Muslims by Israel?” he asked, describing Washington’s stance as “international hypocrisy.”
The AAC leader noted that insecurity in Nigeria cuts across all regions and religions, stressing that the real issue is leadership failure.
“In a country where they are killing 6,000 people a day, you did not designate the killer as a genocidal government. I’m not in any way defending what is happening in Nigeria,” he said.
“But I’m just saying that the problem with Nigeria has nothing to do with religion. It’s complete irresponsible leadership and insecurity that kill everybody.”
Sowore also pointed out that most terrorist attacks occur in the North, where both Christians and Muslims fall victim.
“When you talk about insecurity in this country today, it happens more in the North, in the Muslim part of the North. That’s the truth. They go to mosques and kill people. Just recently, about 35 people were killed in a mosque, and the people who killed them were not Christians; they were probably people who identify as Muslims,” he said.
He warned that blaming the crisis on religious persecution gives Nigerian leaders an “alibi” to evade accountability.
“We like to water down the responsibility of our leaders. Then the U.S. comes up with a policy to say we want to protect Christians. Okay, let’s bring a big boat and take all the Christians out and see if nobody will get killed again,” Sowore said.
The activist maintained that until the Nigerian government confronts insecurity and corruption head-on, citizens of all faiths will continue to die needlessly.
In a related incident, a U.S. lawmaker, Riley M. Moore, has called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately take decisive diplomatic action against the Nigerian government over what he described as the “systematic persecution and slaughter of Christians” in the country.
In a letter dated October 6, 2025, and addressed to Rubio, who currently serves as U.S. Secretary of State, Moore said Nigeria has become the “deadliest place in the world to be a Christian.”
He urged the U.S. government to “use all diplomatic tools available”, including halting arms sales to Nigeria and redesignating it as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act.
“I write to urge you to take immediate action to address the systematic persecution and slaughter of Christians in Nigeria. As a Christian nation founded upon biblical principles, the United States bears a unique obligation to stand for the freedom and protection of Christians worldwide,” the letter said.
“Nigeria has become the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian, and the United States cannot stand idly by. I urge you to use all diplomatic tools available, including designating Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and halting arms sales and all associated technical support until the Nigerian government demonstrates it is sufficiently committed to ending this reign of persecution and slaughter.”
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) October 7, 2025
The Congressman cited chilling statistics, claiming that over 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in 2025 alone, an average of 35 murders per day.
He further referenced reports that at least 19,100 churches have been attacked or destroyed since 2009, while more than 15 million Nigerians have been displaced due to extremist violence.
“The sheer number of Christians who suffer persecution daily for their faith, including the staggering number who have been murdered for proclaiming Jesus Christ as their savior, is horrific. More than 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in 2025 already, an average of 35 murders per day,” he said.
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