The Nigerian government has denied claim by US President Donald Trump that Christianity faces an "existential threat" in the West African nation.
Trump announced Friday that he would designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern”, claiming thousands of Christians had been killed there, but without giving details on source of the information.
It was a sharp repudiation of his senior advisor for Arab and African affairs, Mossad Boullos, who in mid-October rejected claims that a “genocide” against Christians was taking place in Nigeria.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, and out of respect for all the victims and survivors around the world of this unique and appalling crime against humanity, let the record show that there is no genocide, now or ever, in Nigeria,” Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar said on Saturday in a social media post.
Muslim-Christian divide
Nigeria is almost evenly divided between a Muslim-majority north and largely Christian south.
Claims of "Christian mass murder" in the country have in the past been denounced as false by experts who say that conflicts there have killed both Christians and Muslims without distinction.
Nigeria’s foreign ministry said Trump’s decision will not affect relations with Washington, according to a statement on Saturday.
It said the government will continue to defend all citizens regardless of race, creed or religion.
