THIS DAWN — Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has condemned as “insensitive and cruel” the claim attributed to Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi that Christians are not being killed in Nigeria and that communities are allegedly “burying empty coffins.”
In a strongly worded statement on Monday, Fani-Kayode described the assertion as a “monstrous mendacity” and a dangerous distortion of Nigeria’s security realities.
He stressed that Christians have indeed been targeted and killed in large numbers across the country.
He added that any attempt to deny or downplay these attacks amounts to enabling genocide.
“Anyone that denies this, plays it down or says otherwise is a perfidious propagandist, a genocide enabler and a specious liar,” he said.
However, Fani-Kayode was quick to clarify that Muslims are equally victims in Nigeria’s prolonged wave of terrorism.
He noted that the same extremist groups that attack Christian communities also abduct and kill Muslims in significant numbers.
“The Islamist terrorists are killing us all, both Christian and Muslim, and something needs to be done about it quickly and expeditiously,” he warned.
‘Killing both Christians and Muslims’
Fani-Kayode cited recent incidents to illustrate the point:
- the abduction of 25 female students and the killing of a Vice Principal in Maga, Kebbi State — all of whom were Muslims;
- the abduction of 64 people in Tsafe, Zamfara State, also predominantly Muslim victims; and,
- the killing of Army officers in Borno State, which included both Christians and Muslims.
He further referenced the kidnapping of a Catholic priest and 12 girls in Kaduna State as evidence that no faith group is immune.
According to Fani-Kayode, the terrorists “do not care about the religion of their victims and do not represent any faith.”
Instead, he accused them of pursuing an agenda of widespread carnage, mass abduction, land occupation, and resource pillaging.
The former minister rejected calls for amnesty for the perpetrators, describing them as “beasts” who show no remorse and “are not worthy of life.”
He urged the Federal Government and the Armed Forces to “crush them ruthlessly and send them back to hell”.
He insisted that only decisive military action can curb the escalating violence.
Fani-Kayode cautioned against framing the crisis as a Christian-versus-Muslim conflict or supporting proposals for foreign military intervention, particularly by the United States.
He warned that such moves would worsen the situation and embolden extremists.
Calling for unity, he urged Nigerians to resist efforts to divide the nation and to prevent the country from sliding into the fate of war-torn nations like Somalia, Sudan, or Libya.
“We must stand shoulder to shoulder and confront the common enemy together,” he declared.
Fani-Kayode, a foremost proponent of “genocide against Christians“, recently backtracked, saying the claim was unfounded.
He was, however, one of those who raised alarm years ago during the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, lamenting that the then government was aiding and abetting terrorism.
Analysts suggest his recent stance was triggered by the good will he enjoys from the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government.
