Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, made calm yet profoundly disruptive remarks regarding the violence in Nigeria, insisting that the crisis is fundamentally social rather than religious. These comments challenged an established global narrative, suggesting that foreign lobbying efforts have been actively reshaping Nigeria’s story for specific gains. Speaking at the Rome launch of Aid to the Church in Need’s 2025 Religious Freedom Report, Parolin declared that extremist groups make no distinction between Christians and Muslims, with many Muslims also falling victim to the same violence. This statement contradicted months of foreign storytelling that had portrayed Nigeria as a nation consumed by religious warfare.

Inside Nigeria, Parolin’s words resonated deeply with those directly affected by the conflict. Reverend Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Northern Nigeria, confirmed that the killings have long transcended religious lines, stating, “These terrorists moved beyond just killing Christians and started killing virtually everybody.” He added that mosques have also been attacked, and Muslims who disagree with the extremists are likewise killed. From the Muslim community, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has consistently warned against careless language and imported labels, cautioning that they could inflame tensions and undermine years of interfaith peacebuilding efforts. Professor Khalid Aliyu, Secretary General of Jama’atu Nasril Islam, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that criminals should be treated as criminals, regardless of their purported faith. These local voices present a more intricate picture than the simplified version often exported abroad.

Marta Petrosillo, author of Aid to the Church in Need’s Religious Freedom Report, later clarified that Cardinal Parolin’s comments were taken out of context by some lobbyists. She explained that his speech was a robust defense of religious freedom, also acknowledging the complex social and economic factors contributing to Nigeria’s insecurity. The report itself documented violations across various faiths, noting that both Christians and Muslims who reject extremist ideologies are being targeted. However, this nuanced understanding was frequently overshadowed in places like Washington, where lobbyists, including Moran Global Strategies (registered to represent the self-styled Biafra Republic Government-in-Exile, an affiliate of the proscribed IPOB), have cited Nigeria as a country persecuting Christians. This is despite the group’s leader, Simon Ekpa, having been convicted in Finland for terrorism-related offenses linked to deadly attacks in Nigeria’s southeast, often against Christians. These lobbying efforts, funded under the guise of human rights, religious freedom, and self-determination, have influenced congressional briefings and press statements by US congressmen, including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

Critics argue that this pattern represents a proscribed group utilizing paid lobbying to reframe its armed campaign against Christians as a moral crusade for Christians, making it easier to garner sympathy, funding, and foreign political support. Independent data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project reveals that over seven thousand Nigerians were killed in violent incidents in the past year, a figure significantly less than the number of those killed by gun violence in the US in 2025 alone. The victims in Nigeria include Christians, Muslims, and people of no faith, with most attacks stemming from local resource disputes, criminal gangs, Sahel terrorism, and manipulation. To label this a “Christian genocide,” as some lobby groups do, is seen as an erasure of the wider truth of shared suffering.

The Vatican’s message, interpreted as moral rather than political, called for empathy without distortion, a sentiment echoed by Nigerian faith leaders who engage in joint peace initiatives across Plateau, Kaduna, and Niger States—efforts often overlooked by the international press. Those who benefit from sensationalized narratives, however, show little patience for such truths, relying on foreign outrage and simplistic headlines to maintain their relevance. In this context, suffering is leveraged as a strategy, and faith becomes a tool of influence. Cardinal Parolin’s statement was not a denial of persecution but a defense of proportion, emphasizing that every life lost in Nigeria, regardless of faith, holds equal value. To frame the entire crisis as the persecution of one faith is to exchange truth for convenience and compassion for political gain, ultimately obscuring the reality that Nigeria’s conflict is a human one, not a holy war.

Further emphasizing this perspective, a prominent Nigerian voice asserted that despite having championed Christian rights and spoken against marginalization and Islamist terror for decades, the claim of “Christian genocide” is a mischaracterization. While acknowledging that Christians are indeed being targeted and slaughtered in large numbers, it is stressed that an equal number of Muslims have also been victims of the same terrorists over the last 15 years. This view vehemently condemns the description of the situation as “Christian genocide” as a “knee-jerk and emotional reaction” rooted in disinformation, mischief, and intellectual dishonesty, warning it could destabilize the nation, leading to sectarian violence and potentially an unconstitutional regime change.

The dangers of such mischaracterization are highlighted by proposals from figures like Eric Prince (founder of Blackwater) to fund and lead a private Christian army in Nigeria to “kill Muslims,” and US Congressman Chris Smith’s call to “arm Christians in Nigeria with American weapons” and use the American Airforce to “bomb Muslim communities.” Such actions, it is argued, would escalate violence, foster civil war, and have catastrophic consequences for Nigeria and the wider region. The mischaracterization also risks negating Muslim losses, suggesting their lives are inconsequential, and dividing Nigerians by portraying all Muslims as perpetrators and only Christians as victims, thus undermining the collective fight against terror.

The true reality, according to this perspective, is the genocide of both Christians and Muslims by savage terrorist militias—such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, Al Qaeda, Ansaru in the North, and ESN in the South-East—who falsely claim religious affiliation but represent only their own depraved dispositions. The call is for Christians and Muslims to foster unity, close ranks, and fight their common terrorist enemy. While commending security agencies for their efforts in containing terror, the Federal Government is urged to intensify its fight and vigorously counter the “Christian genocide” propaganda, possibly by engaging American lobbyists and fully empowering the Foreign Minister, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar. Furthermore, Nigeria is advised to strengthen ties with China and Russia, become a full member of BRICS, and join the Global South to resist perceived threats from America and Western allies, rejecting their