Rev. Samson Ayokunle, former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has accused the federal government of prioritizing the 2027 elections over the escalating crisis of violence against Christians, describing it as a deliberate genocide that has claimed countless lives for over 16 years. Speaking exclusively to this reporter, Ayokunle dismissed government denials of the atrocities as disgusting and lazy, urging international intervention, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent threat of military action, if domestic authorities continue to fail.
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The interview comes amid heightened global scrutiny following Trump’s stark warning last month, when he vowed to deploy U.S. forces to Nigeria if the killings of Christians persist. Ayokunle hailed the statement as a wake-up call to a clueless administration, arguing that the presence of military, police, and intelligence agencies has done little to stem the bloodshed.
Ayokunle, who also served as President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, rejected claims that reports of Christian genocide are exaggerated. “It is not a claim, but the situation on the ground,” he said, challenging skeptics to specify how many people need to be killed before the situation is recognized as genocide.
Drawing from personal experience, the cleric recounted a 2018 attack in Miango, a predominantly Christian village in Plateau State, where 21 residents 20 of them Baptists from his own denomination were slaughtered overnight despite warnings of danger. “I told them, ‘If I perish, I perish,'” Ayokunle recalled. “What was their offence? Why did they choose a village with only two churches?”
He highlighted similar incidents in Plateau, Benue, and Southern Kaduna, where entire Christian communities have been deliberately levelled, with attackers now occupying displaced families’ lands. Two weeks after the Miango massacre, assailants returned to finish the job, he noted, questioning the efficacy of Nigeria’s security apparatus.
Addressing counterclaims that the violence is indiscriminate and affects Muslims as well, Ayokunle called it the most disgusting statement he had ever heard. He emphasized the targeted nature of attacks on Christians by some Muslims, framing it as persecution elevated to genocide due to its scale and intent. “If members of the same faith attack one another, it is viewed differently. But when some Muslims target Christians, it becomes persecution.”
Ayokunle traced the crisis to Boko Haram’s founding ideology under Mohammed Yusuf and successor Abubakar Shekau, who declared Western education, democracy, and Christianity as evil forces to be eradicated. “They issued a statement ordering all Christians in the North to vacate, declaring they would wipe out anything un-Islamic,” he said. “What could be more un-Islamic to them than Christians and the Church?”
He accused the government of complicity by defending the group after 16 years of inaction. “How can the government now defend them by saying they did not intend to wipe out Christians, except the government itself is an accomplice?” Ayokunle fumed. Government statistics claiming more Muslim deaths were dismissed as baseless, given Nigeria’s failure to conduct a national census in over 40 years.
Recent reports suggesting CAN aligned with the government to downplay the genocide drew sharp rebuttal from Ayokunle, who issued an immediate clarification. “When you are dealing with politicians, you have to be very smart. Do not let them come out with a statement before you,” he advised. CAN later reaffirmed the deliberate Christian genocide, with all records intact.
Critics have faulted CAN’s current leadership for perceived silence until foreign voices like U.S. senators amplified the issue. Ayokunle deflected, suggesting dissatisfied members address the National Executive Council directly. “If journalists want to know whether the current CAN President is speaking or not, let them go to him and ask.”
On Trump’s military ultimatum, Ayokunle expressed cautious support. “If that will give us peace.” He advocated seeking external aid if domestic efforts falter, prioritizing citizens’ safety over national pride. “What Nigerians will be glad about is that they can move about freely in the country of their birth,” he stated. Praising Trump’s resolve, he warned leaders against underestimating the U.S. president.
Skeptics warn of historical precedents, like U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, which often exacerbated instability. Ayokunle countered, “If the place is disrupted, who caused it? You are not causing disruption, but your people are dying in your presence, and you did nothing. What is worse than that?”
He lambasted the government’s response to Trump’s remarks, which portrayed Nigeria unflatteringly on the world stage. “Disgraceful leaders will produce a nation of disgrace,” Ayokunle said. “A group of young people claiming to fight for Islam has held the entire nation to ransom for years what could be more disgraceful?”
Ayokunle reserved his harshest words for the administration’s fixation on 2027 elections amid daily deaths. “They are only focused on how to win the 2027 election when they have not done the needful for 2025 and 2026,” he charged. “How can anyone be playing politics with the blood of innocent people being shed every day?”
Citing a governor’s admission of official complicity, he posed a stark moral question. “Is your personal ambition worth the shedding of innocent blood? They will answer to God one day.” Recalling how President Bola Tinubu and allies decried similar violence under former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, demanding international intervention, Ayokunle decried the hypocrisy. “When it was convenient politically, it was called persecution. Now, it is no longer Christians being killed but both Christians and Muslims.”
As terrorists expand into the South-West, Ayokunle vowed to persist in advocacy. “I will continue to speak like this until justice is done,” he affirmed, urging an end to deceptive and biased security policies.
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