By Chuks Eke
A social critic, Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor Esq. KSC has said that now that America’s President, Donald Trump has placed Nigeria on watch list as it concerns alleged Christian genocide, the best option left for Nigerian government is to set aside domestic politics, propaganda, misleading narratives and confront the real situation head-on.
He insisted that although the Christian community in Nigeria is not merely under threat but just enduring existential assaults that bear the unmistakable hallmarks of systematic elimination.
In a press statement titled: “Now that President Trump has added Nigeria to the countries of particular concern -watchlist, let is be clearly stated that the declaration is only the beginning but the real test lies in action.
Quoting multiple independent reports as saying that thousands of Christians are killed each year, their churches burnt, villages emptied, and ancestral farmlands seized, Ejiofor regretted that Nigeria’s Christian population has repeatedly faced targeted attacks from the North during the jihadist surge of Boko Haram and its affiliate ISWAP, to the Middle Belt farmer-herder conflicts, where Fulani-linked militias frequently assault Christian farming communities under the guise of grazing disputes.
According to him, “These are not random or collateral tragedies. They reflect a pattern of deliberate targeting, of faith, of identity, and of land”.
Describing Trump’s declaration as a positive impact which carries profound implications for Nigeria and beyond, Ejiofor further declared: “it is an International Spotlightt. It draws renewed international attention to the crisis, making it harder for the Nigerian state to maintain its business-as-usual, performative responses”.
“Diplomatic Pressure signals potential diplomatic and economic consequences should the persecution persist, thereby creating leverage for genuine accountability. Moral recognition validates and honours the suffering of the victims, many of whom, until now, have been treated as mere statistics rather than martyrs of conscience”.
“Those who have systematically executed this extermination agenda must be identified, arrested, and prosecuted under the full weight of the law. There must be no secret trials, no political negotiations, justice must be visible and uncompromising”.
The Nigerian Government must realise that if the United States has invoked its moral and diplomatic authority to name Nigeria publicly, it must have done so on the strength of verified facts, data, and credible intelligence. Any continued denial or silence risks exposing the government’s complicity or indifference”.
Those who planted bombs in churches, massacred worshippers, displaced entire congregations, or seized farmlands from Christian families have no narrative left to hide behind. The fate of the victims of this silent slaughter is a scar upon the conscience of the nation, and indeed, the global Church”.
“Every village razed, every child orphaned, every altar desecrated sends a chilling reminder that faith and life must never again be bartered for silence”.
“May the victims know that their suffering has scented the winds of change. May the survivors find renewed courage. And may the perpetrators learn that the cameras of history are no longer turned away”.
“As we step into a new month, I wish the victims of this genocide, and indeed all our well-wishers, and supporters; resilience, hope, and the promise of justice .May the coming days bring renewal, peace, and accountability”.
