1. It’s wrong to characterize Nigeria as a country that does not tolerate religious freedom. It's also wrong to say that everywhere is not safe in Nigeria. Nigeria is indeed a safe country, but we do recognize that we have security challenges in the Northeast. Once upon a time, some of the territories around the Northeast were taken over by Boko Haram. That is no longer the case.
2. Some of the claims made by some officials in the United States is based on faulty data — some assumptions that the victims of this religious violence are largely Christian. Yes, there are Christians being attacked. But these criminals do not just target one religion, they target Christians, they also target Muslims.
3. For the record, we want to say that Nigeria is a very tolerant country when it comes to religion. We don't want these dangerous narratives to go on because criminal elements and some of these extremists are driving this narrative and pushing people to believe that Muslims and Christians are fighting each other. This is not the case.
4. What these criminal elements and extremists want is actually to make Nigerians and the world to feel that there is actually a fight between Christians and Muslims in our country. This is not the case. Absolutely false. Our constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to practise his religion, whether a Christian or a Muslim.
5. In the last two years, there has been a renewed focus, the new attention has been put to ensure that Nigeria becomes safe. We've seen massive deployment of resources to improve our military hardware. We've also seen investments in other sectors, in agriculture, in social services, non-kinetic approach contributing to the stability of our country.
6. The government of Nigeria is working hard to ensure protection of lives and properties, and also ensuring that people go about their businesses all over.
7. Indeed, we have security challenges in Nigeria, but we also have to recognize that there is a massive drive by government to ensure that Nigeria is ultimately safe for everyone.
8. When you say that only a particular religion is being targeted, that is not true. We know that some of these Boko Haram extremists have targeted Muslims in the mosque. Yes, they have targeted also Christians in their churches. And to characterize it as a religious issue is not helpful for our country. It will drive us towards division.
