Nigeria dismisses Ted Cruz’s sanctions bill, says claims of Christian killings are “malicious, contrived lies”

The Presidency in Nigeria has rejected allegations by United States Senator Ted Cruz that Nigerian government officials are complicit in the killing of Christians, describing the claims as false and inflammatory.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, said Cruz’s assertions were nothing more than “malicious, contrived lies,” stressing that Nigeria is not experiencing a religious war.

“Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country. We do not have a religious war in my country,” Onanuga wrote on X on Saturday. “Boko Haram terrorists attack everyone, farmers, soldiers, and villagers, while bandits in the North-West even kill Muslims in mosques. Christians are not targeted. Nigeria enjoys religious harmony.”

Cruz had introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, which proposes sanctions against Nigerian officials accused of ignoring or facilitating attacks on Christians. The bill further calls on the US Secretary of State to classify Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” on religious freedom, and to maintain the terror designations of Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa.

The senator defended his proposal last week, pointing to reports of renewed Boko Haram violence in Borno State that forced more than 5,000 residents of Kirawa to flee into Cameroon. “Officials in Nigeria are ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists,” Cruz alleged. “It’s time to hold those responsible accountable.”

President Tinubu, speaking in Owerri, Imo State on Tuesday, also pushed back against what he called unfounded allegations of religious genocide. He insisted that Nigeria’s strength lies in its cultural and religious diversity, noting that “no religion is under threat” in the country.

For now, Cruz’s bill has stalled in Washington, caught in a wider legislative gridlock caused by the US government shutdown.