- Security agencies record 33% rise in arrests, 12% drop in deaths
- We’ve no legal power to name terrorism financiers, says EFCC
The Federal Government has faulted the latest claim by United States President Donald Trump that Nigeria is experiencing a “Christian genocide,” describing it as another instance of flawed American intelligence and an attempt to distort the country’s complex security reality.
Speaking on Monday at the October edition of the Joint Security Press Briefing (JSPB) in Abuja, the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the allegation by the US President misrepresents the facts and ignores evidence of steady improvements in Nigeria’s internal security operations.
Over the weekend, President Trump had tweeted that Christians were being targeted in Nigeria and urged global action to address what he called “religious persecution.” The message immediately sparked international debates and domestic outrage, with many Nigerians dismissing the assertion as a divisive exaggeration.
Issa-Onilu, addressing journalists alongside security and anti-corruption agencies, said it was disappointing that such rhetoric was being amplified from the same quarters that once praised Nigeria’s counter-terrorism progress. He appealed to Nigerians not to rely on politically motivated foreign narratives about the country’s internal affairs.
“I’m sure even America knows that it’s (genocide claim) not true. This is not the first time that the intelligence of the United States has failed America.
It failed them in Iraq. It told them that there was no weapon of mass destruction, and they apologised. It failed them in Libya, and many other instances. So I’m sure this is another error in the intelligence category,” he said.
Issa-Onilu noted that the October 2025 security data reflected tangible improvements in the country’s fight against insecurity. According to him, major arrests of terror-linked suspects rose by 33 per cent between September and October, while fatalities from violent crimes dropped by 12 per cent within the same period—an outcome he attributed to stronger coordination among the armed forces, police, and intelligence agencies.
Government records presented during the briefing showed that 56 major suspects were arrested in October compared to 42 in September, while 185 fatalities were recorded, down from 210 the previous month.
The report also highlighted expanded collaboration among the military, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), leading to faster interdictions and increased rescue operations of abducted victims across several states.
Issa-Onilu also cited the recent security leadership reshuffle by President Bola Tinubu as evidence of the administration’s seriousness in tackling insecurity.
“A country that is not working seriously on this issue of security will not take that drastic step that the President just took last week by changing the top echelons of the military, you know, to ensure that the system is rigid and empowered to be able to do more,” he said.
The NOA DG added that the United States itself had recently commended Nigeria for the performance of two senior NATO-aligned officers and had lifted previous restrictions on the sale of military equipment to the country—acknowledgements that contradict any suggestion of state-sponsored religious persecution.
“The same United States lifted the sanction on the sales of weapons, and they have been selling weapons to the military. They only do that to countries that they believe are using the weapons responsibly,” he said.
Issa-Onilu emphasised that while Nigeria continues to experience violent crimes and terrorism, attributing such acts to religious motivations was misleading. He noted that most killings are rooted in territorial, economic, and criminal disputes rather than faith-based hostility.
“What we have in this country is a challenge of insecurity, of terrorists, of bandits, of kidnappers. And that’s what we are responding to,” he said, urging Nigerians to go behind the news and verify facts before accepting foreign claims.
“There were Libyans who thought they needed external support. Now they have the Libyans. There were Syrians who thought they needed external support. Now they have the Syrians. So we must be careful,” Issa-Onilu cautioned.
He therefore urged Nigerians to remain vigilant, verify information before sharing, and collaborate with security agencies to sustain peace.
He reiterated that under the Renewed Hope agenda of President Tinubu, coordination, accountability, and citizen trust remain central to national security.
“The government is working. Together we build trust. Together we build peace. Together we build Nigeria,” he said.
On the anti-corruption front, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presented a performance overview showing total recoveries of N566.3 billion and $411.6 million over a two-year period.
The Commission said 1,502 properties were forfeited and part of the recovered funds had been reinvested into the Students Loan Scheme and Consumer Credit Scheme.
Responding to questions on terrorism financing, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale, who represented the Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, clarified that the agency is legally restricted from disclosing the identities of suspected financiers.
“If you are conversant with the Terrorism Financing Act of 2022, you know what the law says. The law does not say that if we have been able to block funds that can be traced to terrorism, we should go ahead and say, okay, it is Chinedu, it is Emeka, it is Dele.
Our job is to ensure that funds traced to any kind of terror activities are tracked, blocked, and made impossible for any terrorist activity to be consummated through such funds. But we might not be able to tell you who and who. The Act that empowers us to do that does not empower us to come with full identities,” Olukoyede explained.
He added that the EFCC remains committed to ensuring that recovered funds benefit rightful victims of fraud, state governments, and corporate entities through judicially approved processes.
