Abuja, Nigeria — November 2, 2025 | Dalena Reporters
Retired Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, former Chief of Army Staff of Nigeria, has strongly criticised U.S. statements describing attacks on Christians in Nigeria as “genocide,” calling the characterisation a “profound blunder” and cautioning against simplistic framing of Nigeria’s complex security landscape.
Buratai’s remarks come amid intensifying diplomatic pressure from Washington on Nigeria, including the designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for its religious-freedom record and the suggestion by U.S. officials of potential military responses if violence against Christian-majority communities continues.
In a statement issued Saturday, Buratai said:
“To label what is happening in Nigeria as a Christian genocide is not only inaccurate but deeply damaging to our national cohesion and security efforts. We must be honest about the threats we face — but we must not politicise our pain for foreign agendas.”
He emphasised that Nigeria’s security challenges are multifaceted, involving terrorist insurgency in the north-east, herder-farmer conflicts in the Middle Belt, communal violence, and banditry across multiple regions. He warned that focusing solely on religious identity oversimplifies the root causes, undermine cooperative security efforts, and could exacerbate divisions.
Reiterating his role in coordinating counter-insurgency operations during his tenure, Buratai added that many of Nigeria’s victims, both Christian and Muslim, are targeted for reasons of geography, ethnicity and resource competition — rather than solely faith. “Our enemies do not read the constitution of the United States; they exploit our weak governance, porous borders and socio-economic fragility,” he said.
The former army chief also urged the U.S. to channel its efforts into practical support such as intelligence-sharing, border surveillance technology, and capacity-building for Nigerian security forces — rather than predictive labelling or threats of intervention. He described the CPC designation as a missed opportunity to build partnership: “If we want to help Nigeria, let us first understand Nigeria.”
Domestic reaction to Buratai’s comments has been mixed. Some Christian advocacy groups welcomed the U.S. recognition of religious-freedom concerns, while others criticised Buratai’s dismissal of the genocide framing as insensitive to the suffering of communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Meanwhile, government officials reiterated that Nigeria remains committed to protecting all religious groups and ensuring justice for victims of violence.
As diplomatic tensions rise between Nigeria and the United States, Buratai’s intervention signals that Nigeria’s military-security community is pushing back against international narratives. How Washington and Abuja will reconcile divergent assessments — and whether cooperation or confrontation will dominate the next phase of engagement — remains to be seen.