Tuggar’s figures on Christian killings not credible — US Congressman Riley Moore

United States Congressman Riley Moore has dismissed claims by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, that only 177 Christians were killed in the country over the last five years.

Tuggar had made the remark during an interview on Piers Morgan’s show, where he pushed back against allegations of a Christian genocide in Nigeria.

Morgan had presented figures from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), which alleged that more than 50,000 Christians had been killed since 2009 and 18,000 churches destroyed.

Tuggar rejected those figures, describing them as inaccurate and insisting that the Nigerian government does not count deaths based on religion, stressing that all victims are viewed as Nigerians first.

When pressed for specific numbers, the minister claimed that only 177 Christian deaths and 102 church attacks were recorded in the last five years.

Speaking at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Moore said he was puzzled by the glaring disparity between the figures.

He noted that the Nigerian delegation currently in the U.S. to address the controversy also disputed the numbers presented by global rights groups.

“I recently saw the foreign minister was in some interview, I think it was Piers Morgan, and it was the same thing when they (the delegation) came here and some of us spoke to them, just disputing these numbers,” Moore said.

“I think the foreign minister said in the last five years there’s only 177 Christians have been killed.”

“I don’t think there’s anybody believes that, and I don’t think that it’s necessarily constructive on their part to try to downplay what’s happening here.”

The congressman added that such a figure might even be recorded within a few months, considering the scale of insecurity in parts of the country.

Moore emphasised that Nigeria has the opportunity to “strengthen, deepen and broaden” its relationship with the United States, but said such progress can only come through transparency, coordination and cooperation with the U.S. government.

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