There was mild drama on Piers Morgan’s programme as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and former Canadian lawmaker Goldie Ghamari battled fiercely over allegations that Christians in Nigeria are being systematically persecuted.
The interview, which aired on Tuesday, featured Tuggar firmly disputing the figures cited by Morgan, who referenced statistics from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), claiming over 50,000 Christians have been killed and 18,000 churches destroyed in Nigeria since 2009.
Tuggar dismissed the numbers as inaccurate, stressing that the Nigerian government does not classify fatalities by religion, insisting instead that victims are treated equally as Nigerians.
When Morgan demanded official figures, the minister stated that only 177 Christians had been killed and 102 churches attacked within the last five years.
Tensions heightened when Ghamari joined the discussion.
She argued that the violence in Nigeria amounted to Jihad and controversially tied it to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
“I don’t have to be familiar with the Constitution of Nigeria to know that when someone yells ‘Allahu Akbar’ before they massacre 200 Christians and burn Christian churches, that’s not just banditry. That’s jihad.
“By the way, this is a government that is working closely behind the scenes with the Islamic Republic of Iran. You should ask the foreign minister why Nigerian school children are holding pictures of the Ayatollah who is a brutal dictator and is murdering my people in Iran,” she claimed, insisting that “people need to look into the linkages between the current Nigerian government and the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
She continued, “I was a politician for seven years, Piers, and I can tell when someone is lying and avoiding the truth. That’s exactly what this foreign minister is doing, and shame on him for lying.”
Reacting, Tuggar fired back immediately, describing her claims as baseless and ill-informed.
He accused the former MP of reducing Nigerian lives to talking points and misunderstanding the nation’s political dynamics.
Addressing her comments about Tinubu and Shettima, he explained that Nigerians prioritise geographic balance, noting that the president is from the South while the vice-president is from the North.
When Morgan asked if he condemned attacks on Christians by Islamist extremists, Tuggar affirmed that he did and disclosed personal loss.
“I lost my father-in-law to an attack by an Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, so I myself I’m a victim. I’ve lost family members to attacks, and they were Muslims.
“But it doesn’t matter whether they’re Muslim or Christian… the number one enemy of Boko Haram is not a Christian. It is a Muslim who does not subscribe to their own brand of Islam,” he said.
Morgan then turned to Ghamari, who argued that the targeting of Muslims does not “negate the fact that there is a targeted ethnic cleansing of Christians in Nigeria.”
Tuggar reacted sternly, accusing her of stoking conflict from a distance.
“People like her trade in starting wars in faraway places where they have no contact, they have no understanding of, and they can do that from their armchairs,” he said. He also accused her of failing to grasp Nigeria’s ethnic complexities and “the same way they broke up Sudan.”
He added that such actors “don’t care about freedoms” and are seeking to destabilise Nigeria because it is Africa’s biggest democracy and a regional stabiliser.
“It’s not going to happen to Nigeria. Move on to your next project. You’re a disgrace. You’re a disgrace to the Canadian nation,” he declared.
In October, the United States President, Donald Trump, declared Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ in response to allegations of a Christian genocide in the country.
Trump wrote, “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern.’
“But that is the least of it. When Christians, or any such group, are slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done!
“I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter and report back to me.”
This declaration has, however, generated controversies.
The federal government has since denied the claims, saying there was no case of Christian genocide in the country.
