Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has accused Fulani extremists and bandits of carrying out a deliberate genocide against Christians in northern Nigeria.
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Lawal, who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari, said the attacks are systematic and driven by religious and historical animosities rather than ordinary criminality. He spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today
Lawal, a vocal critic of the current administration led by President Bola Tinubu, also highlighted that Muslims are killing fellow Muslims but insisted this does not absolve the targeted persecution of Christian communities.
Lawal, who served as SGF from 2015 to 2017 and recently defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), described the violence as systematic and fueled by deep-seated religious and historical animosities. “Christians are being killed in the north massively… It’s a genocide,” he stated emphatically, rejecting counterarguments that frame the attacks as mere criminality without religious motives. He pointed to the jihadist legacy in the region, where smaller ethnic groups like his own Chamba tribe in Adamawa State resisted 19th-century Islamic conquests, fostering ongoing resentment.
“The jihadists have not forgiven the Christian community for not being conquered,” Lawal explained, linking the violence to a perceived need for dominance. He recounted personal anecdotes, including a 2015 incident where a Fulani herder trespassed on his farm, boasting of presidential backing under Buhari’s “Muslim-Muslim” leadership. Lawal warned that the 2023 Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket has emboldened perpetrators, giving them “impetus and courage” to escalate attacks, including the gruesome killing of pregnant women and children in predominantly Christian villages such as those in Benue State.
Dismissing claims that bandits attack indiscriminately, Lawal questioned the pattern: “Why is it that the majority of those criminals killing Christians, and of course Muslims, have the inclination because they are Muslims? Is it not amazing that they are from one single tribe and religion?” He alleged the attackers are overwhelmingly Fulani Muslims, better armed than Nigerian soldiers, with access to drones, heavy weaponry, and endless ammunition—evidence of external funding. “The resources at their disposal are quite enormous; proof that somebody somewhere is funding them,” he said.
Lawal also addressed the killing of moderate Muslims, often dismissed as “house people” or insufficiently devout by extremists. “Muslims too are being killed, more Muslims than Christians,” he acknowledged, but rebuked the deflection: “If a Muslim wakes up and starts killing people and he kills 1,000 Muslims and 100 Christians, that doesn’t justify it. If 1,000 children are killed and one is yours, you worry about yours.”
In a pointed historical reference, Lawal reminded viewers that Tinubu, Buhari, and an APC delegation, including himself, were the first to alert the U.S. government to a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. “We went to lobby the Americans… Buhari was there,” he said, referencing a 2014 meeting with then-Secretary of State John Kerry. He accused the current APC government of hypocrisy: “They go there themselves and say it does happen. They come back and when we say it, they say no, it doesn’t happen anymore because we are in government.”
On the ground realities, Lawal lamented the Nigerian military’s plight. “Soldiers are losing their lives because the system that is supposed to support them has failed,” he said. He contrasted this with Buhari’s era, when the president, a former soldier, prioritized equipping troops. Under Tinubu, he claimed, bandits now outgun the army, turning Adamawa, once peaceful, into a hotspot for land invasions and killings.
Lawal urged the government to prioritize the “security of life and property” for all Nigerians, regardless of faith. “Forget about whether there’s genocide or not… All Nigerians want is peaceful living,” he said, invoking biblical theology to justify international intervention if domestic efforts fail. “If American Christians decide to come to the aid of Nigerian Christians, that’s biblical; they are our brothers.”
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