Former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson Ayokunle, has accused the Federal Government of prioritising political ambition ahead of national security, lamenting that innocent Nigerians are being slaughtered daily while leaders are preoccupied with the 2027 general election.
In an exclusive interview, Ayokunle described the alleged genocide against Christians in Nigeria as a painful reality, not a mere claim, warning that the country’s leadership risks moral and spiritual judgment if it continues to trivialise the killings.
According to Ayokunle, several Christian communities in Plateau, Benue, and Southern Kaduna have been deliberately wiped out by terrorists who now occupy their lands.
It’s not a claim but the situation on the ground, he said. Ask those disputing it how many people must die before they accept that it’s genocide.
Many Christian villages have been destroyed, and the attackers are now living on their lands.
The cleric recounted a personal experience during his tenure as President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, when he visited Miango, a Plateau community attacked by gunmen who killed 21 residents 20 of whom were Baptists.
People warned me not to go there, saying I could disappear, but I told them, ‘If I perish, I perish.
Two weeks after the first massacre, they returned to finish the job. Yet we claim to have a military and police, he lamented.
Responding to suggestions that both Christians and Muslims have been victims of violence, Ayokunle described such claims as an attempt to downplay deliberate persecution.
That’s the most disgusting statement I’ve ever heard,” he said. “It’s true that some Muslims are killed, but when Christians are deliberately targeted by Muslim extremists, that’s persecution. With the scale of these killings, it’s genocide.”
He recalled that Boko Haram’s founders, Mohammed Yusuf and Abubakar Shekau, openly vowed to eliminate Western civilisation and Christianity from Nigeria.
They declared war on Christians and Western education. Any Muslim opposing them was branded an infidel. How can a government now defend them by denying their intent to wipe out Christians, except it’s complicit?” he asked.
Ayokunle criticised the government for what he called “failure of responsibility,” accusing it of indifference to the lives lost over the past 16 years.
If both Christians and Muslims are being killed, who should stop the killers? It’s the government’s duty,” he said. “But instead, they are busy preparing for the 2027 elections while citizens die daily. It’s a lazy government that has lost direction.”
He also faulted the administration for claiming that more Muslims had been killed than Christians, despite the absence of reliable national data.
How can they say that when no census has been conducted for over 40 years? They’re just cooking up numbers to cover up their incompetence, he added.
Addressing criticism that CAN had been silent on the genocide allegations, Ayokunle clarified that the body had earlier issued a rebuttal when reports misrepresented its stance.
When you’re dealing with politicians, you must be smart. If you let them speak first, they’ll twist your words. That’s why CAN restated that Christians are indeed being massacred deliberately,” he explained.
Reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent warning that America might intervene militarily if the killings continue, Ayokunle said the statement should serve as a wake-up call to Nigeria’s “clueless government.
If what’s happening is embarrassing the international community, why is it not embarrassing our own leaders? For 16 years, they’ve failed to end this crisis. Terrorists are now expanding into the South-West. What then is the essence of government?”
He condemned leaders who, in his words, play politics with blood.
They’re obsessed with 2027 instead of saving lives. Is your political ambition worth the shedding of innocent blood? Many dreams are being cut short overnight. God will judge them, he warned.
Asked whether he supports Trump’s threat, Ayokunle replied: If that will bring us peace, so be it.
Nigerians just want to live freely in their own country. If our leaders can’t protect us, they should seek help. Don’t dare Trump he does whatever he says.
He dismissed fears that U.S. intervention could destabilise Nigeria further, arguing that the real cause of instability lies with corrupt and indifferent leadership.
If a country becomes worse after intervention, who created the loophole? It’s our leaders’ failure. Watching your people die and doing nothing is worse than any foreign disruption, he said.
Ayokunle described the government’s response to Trump’s remarks as evidence of Nigeria’s declining moral and political standing.
Disgraceful leaders produce a disgraced nation,” he said. “For 16 years, terrorists have held Nigeria hostage. Back in 2014, Tinubu and others protested against Goodluck Jonathan, calling for international intervention over Christian killings. What’s changed now?”
He concluded that leaders who remain silent in the face of mass killings, regardless of religion, “have lost the right to call themselves just or humane.
Rev. Ayokunle’s comments come at a time of heightened insecurity and political tension in Nigeria.
His remarks draw a sharp contrast between moral responsibility and political ambition, urging the government to act decisively before the crisis further erodes Nigeria’s stability and international reputation.
