Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has rejected claims of a religious genocide in Nigeria’s South East, insisting that the violence in the region is not driven by religion.
Soludo was responding to recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, who alleged that Christians were being killed in Nigeria and hinted that Washington might take military action to “protect Christians.”
Speaking during a live media chat on Channels Television, Soludo said while the United States is entitled to its opinions, its actions must still respect international law.
“There is a deeper conversation and introspection about what goes on in this part of the country. In eastern Nigeria, it is not religious,” he stated.
The governor emphasized that most of the ongoing violence in the region is intra-communal rather than religious.
“People are killing themselves, Christians killing Christians. The people in the bushes are Emmanuel, Peter and John, all Christian names, and they have maimed and killed thousands of our youths. It has nothing to do with religion,” he said.
Soludo noted that the South East is about 95 percent Christian, yet the perpetrators and victims of most attacks share the same faith.
“In this part of the country, we are 95 percent Christians, and the people in the bushes killing others bear Christian names,” he reiterated.
“It is much wider than the categorisation of Christians and Muslims.”
He urged both local and international observers to avoid framing the crisis as a religious conflict and instead focus on addressing the political, social, and economic causes of insecurity in the region.
“Nigeria will overcome, and it will end in conversation,” Soludo added, calling for dialogue and reconciliation as the path to lasting peace.
