Genocide claims: Trump is misinformed – Tuggar

By Henry Oduah

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, says he believes United States President Donald Trump has been misinformed about the crisis in Nigeria.

Trump had threatened to deploy US military to Nigeria over what he described as the government’s failure to stop the alleged targeted killing of Christians by jihadists.

Responding to Trump’s threats on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored show, aired on Tuesday, Tuggar said: “We have the utmost respect for the United States of America. By extension, we have the utmost respect for its president, President Trump. It’s unfortunate that President Trump has been misinformed by those that trade in general lies and labelling and unfortunately, it has resulted in this statement.

“We urge that the engagement that is ongoing continues so that we will provide more information and clarity.

“We are not the ground for either a jihad or a crusade. Nigerians have lived in peace for a very long period of time… it is important to be mindful of the complexity of the Nigerian state.”

Tuggar countered figures presented by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), which claimed that over 50,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria since 2009, with 18,000 churches destroyed.

According to him, 177 Christians have been killed, 98 injured and seven abducted in the last five years.

He added that 102 churches have been attacked during the same period.

“In the last five years, I can categorically tell you that 177 Christians have been killed. The number of those injured are 98, while seven were abducted,” Tuggar said.

“We are not hiding any facts, but as I said, we don’t go about trying to identify a Nigerian’s faith when they have lost their lives.”

The post Genocide claims: Trump is misinformed – Tuggar appeared first on Vanguard News.