Federal Government has again dismissed allegations by some foreign officials suggesting that Nigeria discriminates against any faith group, insisting that the country remains a tolerant nation that guarantees freedom of religion for all citizens.

This is a Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev Dr Alfred Adewale Martins, urged the government and security agencies to further prove that there is no genocide in the country.

Speaking on CNN on Tuesday night, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, described the claims, particularly by some United States officials, as misleading and not reflective of Nigeria’s security realities.

According to the minister, some of the claims made by officials of the United States are based on faulty data and assumptions that the victims of the violence are largely Christians.

“Yes, there are Christians being attacked, but these criminals do not just target one religion. They target Christians and also target Muslims. We have seen that especially in the northern part of the country,” Idris clarified.

The minister warned that such narratives could inflame religious tensions, stressing that the government was committed to ensuring harmony and security for all Nigerians.

“Those promoting such claims are unwittingly playing into the hands of criminals whose ultimate objective is to incite conflict between Christians and Muslims,” he said.

Idris reiterated that Nigeria’s Constitution protects freedom of worship, adding that portraying the country as religiously intolerant is not only inaccurate but dangerous.

But Martins, while fielding questions from journalists at the 35th priestly ordination anniversary of Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Fadairo, at the Saint Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos, observed that Christians had been killed, displaced from their homelands and occupied by those he described as people who had no right to be there.

He said: “Many of these people who are displaced are Christians, from Christian environments; so, it gives people the latitude to make allegations of genocide.”

The man of God, however, said he would not describe what is happening in Nigeria as genocide but blamed it on the laxity of government and security agencies.

Martins reminded Nigerians that not only Christians were affected, but also other people who are not Christians.