Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga has taken a swipe at U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, representing Texas, over what he termed unfounded and mali+cious allegations of religious pers+cution in Nigeria.
Senator Cruz, in a post shared via X (formerly Twitter), accused Nigerian authorities of “turning a blind eye and even enabling the mass m¥rder of Christians by Islamist jihad+sts.” He also revealed plans to push the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act, a bill aimed at sanctioning Nigerian officials allegedly involved in such att+cks.
Responding to the claims, Onanuga who serves as President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy dismissed the senator’s assertions as f+lse and misleading, urging him to stop spreading fabricated narratives about the country.
“Senator, stop these malicious, contrived l+es against my country. We do not have a religious war in Nigeria,” Onanuga stated. “The degraded Boko Haram terr+rists operating along the fringes of the North-East target everyone. They att+ck farmers, our soldiers. The bandits in the North-West k+ll worshippers in their mosques. Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country. Stop these malicious l+es.”
He emphasized that Nigeria’s insecurity stems from crim+nality and v+olent extremism rather than religion, warning that such misleading foreign commentaries could d+mage diplomatic ties between Nigeria and the United States.
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