A war of words has erupted on X between U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and the Nigerian presidency after the lawmaker accused Nigerian officials of aiding the persecution of Christians.
Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, claimed authorities in Nigeria were ignoring — and in some cases facilitating — the killings of Christians by Islamist militants.
“Officials in Nigeria are ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists,” Cruz wrote. “It’s time to hold those responsible accountable. My Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools.”
But the comment sparked an angry backlash from the Nigerian presidency. Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, hit back, branding Cruz’s remarks “malicious” and “contrived lies.”
“Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country. We do not have a religious war in my country,” Onanuga fired back.
He insisted that insecurity in Nigeria is not about faith but about terrorism and banditry.
“The degraded Boko Haram terrorists operating on the fringes of Nigeria’s North East target everyone. They attack farmers, our soldiers. The bandits in the North West kill worshippers in their mosques. Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country. Stop these malicious lies,” he declared.
