‘Nobody believes that’ — US Rep Blasts Tuggar’s Claim of 177 Christian Deaths in Five Years
A United States Congressman, Riley Moore, has criticised Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, for claiming that only 177 Christians were killed in Nigeria over the last five years.
Pulse247 reports that Tuggar made the statement during an appearance on Piers Morgan’s show, where he attempted to counter allegations of widespread Christian persecution, clarify casualty figures, and explain the country’s complex security challenges.
During the interview, Morgan cited data from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), which claims that more than 50,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria since 2009 and that about 18,000 churches have been destroyed.
Tuggar rejected the figures, insisting they were exaggerated. He argued that the Nigerian government does not record deaths by religious identity and views all victims simply as Nigerians.
However, speaking during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Congressman Riley Moore expressed disbelief and concern over the minister’s claim, noting that the Nigerian delegation in Washington also disputed the casualty estimates.
He said:
“I recently saw the foreign minister was in some interview, I think it was Piers Morgan, and it was the same thing when they (the delegation) came here and some of us spoke to them, just disputing these numbers.
“I think the foreign minister said in the last five years there’s only 177 Christians have been killed.
“I don’t think there’s anybody believes that, and I don’t think that it’s necessarily constructive on their part to try to downplay what’s happening here,” he said.
The contrast in casualty figures has intensified debates in Washington and Abuja over the scope and nature of religiously-linked violence in Nigeria.
