Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has accused U.S. President Donald Trump of fabricating false claims of a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria.
Falana made the statement on Wednesday, November 5, during an interview on Channels TV. He said Trump’s remarks showed complete disdain for Africa and lacked any credible evidence.
According to Falana, Donald Trump’s Christian genocide Nigeria claim is baseless. He explained that Nigeria’s violence stems mainly from resource conflicts and criminal activities, not religion.
“My position is that Mr. Trump has lied to the whole world by alleging Christian genocide in Nigeria without any evidence to back it up,” Falana said.
He added that Trump claimed over 3,100 Christians had been killed in Nigeria. However, Falana insisted that the killings were not religiously motivated.
“When you compare Mr. Trump’s story with the reality on the ground, you will see that the murderers, whether they be terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, and so on—do not give a damn about your religion. Many of them are only interested in the ransom you will have to pay. Therefore, it has nothing to do with religion,” he stated.
Falana emphasized that Donald Trump’s Christian genocide narrative ignores real issues like land and grazing disputes.
“Those who are killing there are either killing to expropriate land or killing to feed their animals,” he said.
He urged the Federal Government to focus on fixing internal security challenges instead of panicking over Trump’s threat of possible military action against Nigeria.
“Instead of losing sleep over Trump’s statement, the government has a duty to look inwards; where have we made errors?” Falana said.
The senior advocate also described Trump’s comments as part of broader geopolitical interests targeting Africa’s resources.
“I know him, I know his antics, I know his hatred for Africa. This matter is about the resources of our country. The same guys promoting this debate are also saying let’s cut China to size in Africa. We must look at the geopolitical considerations and the errors made by our government in the past and present,” he said.
Falana concluded by urging Nigerians to reject misinformation and focus on resolving domestic causes of conflict.
