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The Federal Government has
accused the U.S. of attempting to sow seed of religious mistrust among the
various religious groups in Nigeria with its recent report.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the Federal Government
rejected the U.S. designation of Nigeria as “a country that engages in or
tolerates severe violations of religious freedom”.
Mohammed said that the iniquitous tag stemmed from an
orchestrated narrative that had long been discredited.
He stressed that the people of Nigeria enjoyed unfettered
freedom to practise their religion.
The minister blamed failed politicians and disgruntled elements
– some of them supposedly respected leaders, for latching on to religion as
their trump card, especially in the run up to the last general elections.
He said it was unfortunate that the U.S. fell for the antics of
“the discontented and the unpatriotic few, who will not hesitate to hang
Nigeria out to dry on the altar of their inordinate ambition and their sheer
animosity towards the Buhari-led administration”.
He said the Nigerian government was aware of how the political
opposition in particular, had spared no resources in deriving political capital
from the various security challenges in the country.
“The deliberate effort to give religious colouration to the
farmers-herders clashes and the Boko Haram insurgency, in particular, has
undoubtedly helped to mislead the U.S. into concluding that the government is
doing little or nothing to guarantee religious freedom in the country.
“But, as we have always said, the farmers-herders clashes have
nothing to do with religion, but everything to do with environmental and
socio-economic realities.
“The religious tag given to the clashes has no basis in fact,
but it is very convenient for those who will very easily give the dog a bad
name just to hang it.
“On its part, the Boko Haram terrorists are extreme fanatics who
do not subscribe to the tenets of any religion, in spite of their pretence to
Islamic adherence,” he said.
The minister said the good news was that the government had
succeeded in curbing the farmers-herders clashes through the implementation of
proactive and multi-dimensional strategy, yielding remarkable results.
He added the government had largely defeated the Boko Haram
insurgency.
“On the El-Zakzaky issue, which was referred to in the report by
the U.S. government, it is purely a criminal matter, which is being handled by
a court of competent jurisdiction,” he said.
The Minister stressed that while the government welcomed
constructive criticism from any quarter, it rejected any attempt to sow seed of
mistrust among the various religious groups in the country. (NAN) ピーク ファンドリア
