In a widely shared video from his program Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher claimed that up to 500,000 Christians had been murdered nationwide, calling the scenario genocide. International influencers, such as Radio Genoa, an anti-Islamic figure on X, helped spread the video.
Omokri responded in a statement on Sunday, saying the allegations were baseless and went against international data on insecurity and terrorism.
The Institute’s 2024 Global Terrorism Index states that 8,352 people lost their lives to insecurity and terror in the previous year.
“You will agree with me that it is absurd to claim that half a million Christians were killed in Nigeria last year, or Mr. Maher’s more conservative figure of 100,000,” he said, adding that to the 36,000 civilians the UN claims were killed by armed conflicts worldwide in the same year.
He emphasized that both Christians and Muslims are impacted by insecurity in Nigeria, pointing out that more Muslims have fallen prey in recent years.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, or ACLED, reports that 13,485 persons have lost their lives in these attacks between 2010 and 2023, with Muslims making up the great bulk of those killed. It’s bad enough. However, it’s far from 500,000 or 100,000,” Omokri clarified.
According to the former presidential assistant, terrorists were initially hoping to start a religious conflict but were dissatisfied with Christian leaders’ maturity.
This treatise’s main goal is to refute the false information on a genocide in Nigeria that has been disseminated by naive or cunning individuals. Omokri continued, “Those who are making such outrageous and risky claims are dreaming about such a thing.”
American TV host Bill Maher’s allegations that Nigeria is killing Christians on a systematic basis have been denied by Femi Fani-Kayode and Dada Olusegun, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Social Media.
The accusations, according to the two Nigerian political figures, distort the nation’s security position, run the risk of escalating religious tensions, and jeopardize the advancement of current counterterrorism initiatives.
