Tuggar, ex-Canadian lawmaker clash over Nigerian Christian genocide allegations

Tuggar and Ex-Canadian Lawmaker Clash Over Nigerian Christian Genocide Allegations

In a heated exchange on Piers Morgan’s programme, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and former Canadian lawmaker Goldie Ghamari clashed over allegations of a Christian genocide in Nigeria.

The debate, which aired on November 18, 2025, highlighted the deep divisions in how Nigeria’s internal conflicts are perceived internationally.

During the interview, Morgan cited figures from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), claiming that over 50,000 Christians had been killed and 18,000 churches destroyed in Nigeria since 2009. 

Tuggar firmly rejected these statistics, arguing that the Nigerian government does not classify fatalities by religion and treats all victims equally as Nigerians. He countered with official figures, stating that only 177 Christians had been killed and 102 churches attacked in the past five years.

The discussion escalated when Ghamari joined, accusing the Nigerian government of downplaying what she described as jihadist violence. She argued that the killings amounted to ethnic cleansing and linked them to broader Islamist movements, controversially tying the situation in Nigeria to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Ghamari further alleged connections between Nigeria’s government and Iran, claiming that Nigerian schoolchildren were seen holding images of Iran’s Ayatollah. Tuggar dismissed these assertions as baseless and accused her of misunderstanding Nigeria’s political and ethnic complexities.

Tuggar also shared his personal experience, revealing that his father-in-law was killed by Boko Haram, underscoring that both Muslims and Christians have been victims of extremist violence. He stressed that Boko Haram’s primary targets are Muslims who reject their ideology, not Christians alone.

Morgan pressed him on whether he condemned attacks on Christians, to which Tuggar responded affirmatively, while reiterating that Nigeria’s government does not frame the violence in religious terms.

The clash grew more intense as Ghamari insisted that Christians were being systematically targeted, accusing Tuggar of lying and avoiding the truth. Tuggar fired back, accusing her of stoking conflict from afar and reducing Nigerian lives to political talking points. He warned that such rhetoric risked destabilizing Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy, and likened her approach to the international meddling that contributed to Sudan’s collapse.

The controversy was further amplified when U.S. President Donald Trump declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern,” citing allegations of Christian genocide. Trump claimed that Christianity faced an existential threat in Nigeria and called on Congress to investigate the matter.

The Nigerian government has strongly denied these claims, maintaining that there is no evidence of genocide against Christians.

This confrontation reflects the broader struggle over narratives surrounding Nigeria’s security crisis. While international voices frame the violence as religious persecution, Nigerian officials emphasize its complex roots in terrorism, banditry, and ethnic tensions.

The debate underscores the difficulty of reconciling domestic realities with external perceptions, and the political stakes involved in how Nigeria’s conflicts are portrayed on the global stage.