Former Mayor of Blanco City in Texas, United States, Mike Arnold, has said that contrary to recent allegations, the Nigerian government is not among those sponsoring Boko Haram.

Mayor Arnold stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, where he aligned with Nigerian political commentator and former presidential aide Reno Omokri, who maintained that the Nigerian government operates deradicalisation camps for repentant Boko Haram members — mainly children abducted and brainwashed by the terrorist group.

The briefing came in the wake of a recent claim by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz that the Nigerian government could be aiding Boko Haram.

Omokri, however, dismissed the allegation as baseless and challenged Senator Cruz to publicly name any Nigerian government official allegedly involved in sponsoring the terror group.

He also debunked claims of an ongoing genocide against Christians in Nigeria.

“A genocide is when there is a deliberate act or policy by a state actor, or by people connected to a state actor, targeting a particular ethnicity or religion,” Omokri said. “The claim is not true. If anyone believes Nigerian officials are facilitating terror, they should name them and provide proof.”

Omokri further blamed the Obama administration for policies that, according to him, unleashed Boko Haram on Nigeria.

“Because of policies unleashed by the Obama administration, we’ve had security issues in Nigeria. But we are fighting them and doing the best we can. I believe Senator Cruz means well, but he doesn’t have the right information,” he said.

Citing data from the Global Terrorism Index, Omokri noted that terrorism-related deaths in Nigeria dropped significantly from 7,512 in 2015 to 565 in 2024, reflecting major improvements in national security efforts.

In his own remarks, Mayor Arnold admitted that Boko Haram had committed genocide but reiterated that the Nigerian government was not involved.

“By the definition of genocide, the government of Nigeria does not have to be involved,” he said.

When Omokri pressed him to name any Nigerian official or agency that had supported or facilitated Boko Haram,
Arnold referred to the existence of “repentant Boko Haram” camps.

Omokri clarified that such camps were not for actual terrorists or commanders, but rather for children and young people who had been abducted and forced to join the group, describing them as deradicalisation centres.

Also speaking at the conference, the Secretary-General of Jama’at Nasril Islam (JNI), Prof Khalid Aliyu, dismissed the allegations of Christian genocide as both “strange and dangerous.”

“It sounds strange for anyone to make such an unverified claim that there is Christian genocide in Nigeria,” Aliyu said. “It is dangerous to shift the narrative from criminality to religion. Such baseless claims can create bad blood and further worsen our national challenges.”

He warned against attempts to distort facts or inflame religious tensions, urging local and international observers to rely on verified information rather than sensational narratives.