Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has dismissed allegations of a targeted genocide against Christians in Nigeria, describing such claims as “fake news.”

Speaking in the United Kingdom during an interaction with students at Abbey College, Cambridge on April 21, Mohammed said Nigeria’s security crisis is complex and not rooted in any deliberate religious extermination.

“There should be more understanding on the part of the developed world people say that there is religious persecution in Nigeria and that there is genocide against Christians. It’s not true. It is fake news,” he stated, adding that Nigeria’s challenges “will not be resolved by genocide against any religion.”

He explained that Boko Haram initially targeted Muslims who embraced Western education, noting that early victims were predominantly Muslims.

“At the beginning, the victims of Boko Haram were largely Muslims, not Christians. Boko Haram started as a revolt by extreme Muslims against conventional Muslims like me. ‘haram’ means forbidden… ‘boko’ means Western education,” he said.

According to him, the group later began attacking Christians to gain global attention. “They realised that Muslims killing one another doesn’t gain traction. When Muslims start killing Christians, it causes an uproar. That is the honest truth,” he added.

Mohammed also rejected claims that banditry is religiously motivated, saying, “The bandits are Muslims, their victims are Muslims. So how can you now talk about religion? It has nothing to do with religion.”

He maintained that Muslims account for most victims of insurgency and emphasized Nigeria’s tradition of religious tolerance, citing interfaith marriages and the example of President Bola Tinubu, a Muslim, whose wife is a leader in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.