Fresh Attacks: U.S. Genocide Claim Empowers Violent Groups — FG
ABUJA — On Wednesday, Senator George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), asserted that US President Donald Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern has given violent groups the confidence to launch new attacks throughout the nation.
Akume dismissed growing suggestions that Christians are the primary targets of coordinated genocidal attacks in Nigeria, explaining that the country’s current security challenge has evolved across two major fronts, which fall under the North-East Ideological Insurgency (2002–present).
He claimed that although it started out as a local extremist movement, it soon took tactical and doctrinal cues from international terrorist currents spread by Al-Qaeda, eventually evolving into Boko Haram and ISWAP under the influence of ISIS.
The SGF continued by claiming that economic motivations, such as illegal mining, cattle rustling, kidnapping for ransom, extortion, and territorial domination, became the primary motivators of North-West Criminal Banditry (2018–present).
“After the 2011 Libya and Egypt uprisings, destabilization made today’s insecurity inevitable. The Libyan collapse allowed Al-Qaeda-aligned smugglers to loot and distribute heavy weapons across the Sahel.
“Instability in Egypt allowed extremist ideology and foreign fighters to spread. Weapons smuggled by AQIM infiltrated West Africa and Nigeria, boosting Boko Haram, ISWAP, and later banditry”.
Akume claimed that Nigeria had no legal or institutional framework to confront terrorism and transnational organized crime before 2010.
The SGF said Henry Okah’s 1 October 2010 Abuja Independence Day explosion showed this vulnerability. The Federal Government of Nigeria passed the Terrorism Prevention Act (2011) and its 2013 amendment.
“These legislation allowed security and law enforcement to trace and prosecute terrorism financing, improved intelligence cooperation, and formed Nigeria’s contemporary counter-terrorism framework.
‘Boko Haram (JAS), founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf, radicalized after the 2009 insurrection and his death. Abubakar Shekau led Boko Haram to mass killings, suicide bombs, church and mosque attacks, the 2011 UN Building bombing in Abuja, and the 2014 Chibok girls’ kidnapping.
The gang became ISWAP in 2015 after pledging allegiance to ISIS. A 2016 split saw ISIS remove Shekau and reform ISWAP into a more coordinated terrorist organization in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.
“The Al-Qaeda (AQIM) to ISIS Pipeline – The insurgency mirrors the global transition from Al-Qaeda’s early ideological influence through AQIM in the Sahel to ISIS’s later organizational and financial structures”.
Akume sees North-West banditry as economic, not religious, due to competition over grazing routes, water resources, and desertified farmlands. Cattle rustling and illegal gold and mineral mining in Benue, Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara states support gun purchases through Al-Qaeda-influenced smuggling routes.
He also believed that kidnapping-for-ransom has become an organized enterprise with extortion, unlawful taxation of rural communities, and ownership of fertile agricultural land and transport corridors.
He said these influences, not religion, explain North-West violence.
Akume rejected the American government’s designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern, arguing that Boko Haram/ISWAP attacks churches and mosques, killing Muslims and Christians.
He said bandits target Christians, Muslims, and traditionalists, proving that economic and ideological factors motivate them, not religious extermination.
The misrepresentation of the crisis as “genocide against Christians” fuels dangerous religious tensions, emboldens extremist and criminal factions that exploit sectarian narratives, creates diplomatic frictions based on inaccurate interpretations, and undermines Nigeria’s longstanding efforts to build constructive international security partnerships.
Nigerian Armed Forces are skilled, experienced, and professional. They recaptured huge regions, degraded Boko Haram/ISWAP leadership, and conducted successful multi-theatre operations.
Nigeria needs no foreign troops. Advanced engagement against the rebels requires focused help from partners, primarily the US, in intelligence collaboration, technology, and military equipment.
“US statements have emboldened opportunistic violent groups that exploit international narratives and make bold statements by attacking soft targets.
Before these declarations, insurgency structures were fragmented and reduced to banditry. This revival emphasizes the need for Nigeria-US collaboration, not public labeling.
Nigeria denies the conflict was a genocidal genocide against Christians or any group. Insurgents and criminal networks slaughter Muslims and Christians at churches and mosques, according to verified evidence. The government is dedicated to protecting all citizens and working with international partners—especially the US—to dismantle terrorist and criminal networks.
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