A former mayor of Blanco, Texas, and founder of Africa Arise International, Mike Arnold, has accused former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, of deliberately misrepresenting his position on ongoing religious violence in Nigeria, describing Omokri as a pathological liar attempting to whitewash atrocities.
Arnold, who led a U.S. fact-finding delegation to Nigeria on the invitation of Omokri, said he was deeply disappointed by the former aide’s alleged manipulation of facts and political motives, adding that his (Arnold’s) findings confirm that Nigeria is facing a calculated, long-running genocide against Christian and minority communities.
The controversy began after Omokri, a former media aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, claimed during a press briefing in Abuja that Arnold had joined him in debunking allegations of genocide against Christians in Nigeria.
Omokri argued that while the country had experienced insecurity, the incidents did not amount to genocide.
Saying there’s a genocide in Nigeria, Omokri said, is like saying that because 30,000 people, mostly black, are murdered every year in the U.S., there’s genocide against black Americans. It’s not true.
He also cited Open Doors International and the Global Terrorism Index, claiming that neither identified Nigeria’s violence as genocide and that the country’s terror ranking had improved.
However, Arnold sharply refuted Omokri’s assertions in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) and in a detailed statement released on Wednesday.
“Reno Omokri is a pathological liar, a hypocrite, and a manipulator,” Arnold wrote. “His attempts to deny and distort the reality of Christian persecution in Nigeria are both immoral and dangerous. To continue to deny this genocide is to be complicit in it.”
Arnold said his team—comprising diplomats, academics, and human rights experts—had visited multiple states across Nigeria, including several internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, and held meetings with both Christian and Muslim leaders as part of an independent, evidence-based mission.
He maintained that after five years of research and field investigation, his findings met the international legal threshold for genocide as defined by the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The campaign of violence and displacement in northern and middle-belt Nigeria constitutes a calculated, current, and long-running genocide against Christian and minority communities without any reasonable doubt,” Arnold declared. “To continue to deny this is to be complicit in these atrocities.”
According to Arnold, the roots of the crisis lie in a combination of radical Islamist conquest, illegal resource extraction especially blood mineral mining and politically motivated demographic re-engineering.
“The term ‘farmer-herder clashes’ is, in many cases, cynical doublespeak, he said. What we see today is systematic terror, not grazing conflicts. Entire villages are razed, churches destroyed, and thousands killed.
Arnold dismissed reports suggesting that he had political or financial ties to Omokri or the Nigerian government.
I came here independently, he stated. I have not requested, received, or been offered a single kobo. My only allegiance is to the truth.
He also expressed dismay at what he described as Omokri’s manipulative opportunism, claiming the former aide had staged misleading photo opportunities and made false claims about their meetings with senior Nigerian officials.
“Reno doesn’t lie like most liars, Arnold wrote. He lies calmly, consistently, and strategically for clout and access to power.
He’s trying to reinvent himself as a political insider by denying the bloodshed he once condemned.”
Arnold further alleged that Omokri’s shifting narratives stem from his desire for political relevance and possible appointments under the current administration.
Under the Buhari government, Omokri had been one of the loudest voices decrying the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, but Arnold accused him of flipping on the martyrs he once mourned to curry favour with President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
From prophet to propagandist he’s become Nigeria’s Joseph Goebbels, Arnold said. “He’s gaslighting a nation while Christians and innocent Nigerians continue to die.
Arnold concluded that his delegation’s comprehensive report on religious persecution and internal displacement would be submitted to U.S. policymakers, international human rights organisations, and faith-based advocacy groups in the coming weeks.
The truth is not comfortable, but it’s what remains when propaganda fails, he added. I came to Nigeria to speak the truth, and I will not allow it to be hijacked.
