By SCM Political Correspondent I Thursday, Nov. 06, 2025
LAGOS, NIGERIA — A top Nigerian government minister has penned an extraordinary public letter to Donald Trump, directly challenging the former US President’s assertions of “mass killings” and targeted persecution of Christians in the West African nation.
Festus Keyamo, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a devout Christian, made the stunning intervention to offer a “little voice” on the issue that has recently “agitated” Trump’s mind.
In the blistering open letter, Keyamo categorically denied that Christians are being “SPECIFICALLY targeted in Nigeria for persecution, killings or harassment ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR FAITH.”
Keyamo, who was awarded the Global Human Rights Award in Washington in 2017, insisted his “strong Christian background and ethical pedigree” would make it “most unconscionable” to serve the current government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if the claims were true.
He acknowledged that Nigeria has endured a “fair share of societal violence,” primarily perpetrated by groups like Boko Haram, herdsmen, and cattle rustlers. However, he stressed that this decades-old insecurity has “impacted adherents of all religions,” not just Christians.
The Minister heaped praise on his boss, President Tinubu, despite the Nigerian leader being a Muslim. Keyamo described him as a “known ‘moderate’” whose wife is a Pastor of one of Nigeria’s biggest Pentecostal Churches and whose children are practising Christians.
”He will be the last person to either adopt the killing of Christians as a State Policy, or condone such acts or be complicit in them,” Keyamo wrote.
To further debunk the claims, Keyamo pointed out that “most of the security Chiefs appointed by [President Tinubu] are Christians,” making it “unthinkable” to imagine them complicit in killing their fellow faithful.
Keyamo called for a “deep and sincere understanding” and “support and cooperation” from the US government to confront the menace of terrorism, urging Trump to “broaden your sources of information” for a balanced view.
Crucially, the Minister noted that even opposition politicians in Nigeria are “united on one point: there is no TARGETED killing of Christians in Nigeria.”
The explosive letter comes amid heightened scrutiny over religious violence in parts of Nigeria, though Keyamo’s strong rebuttal presents the official stance that the violence is not a targeted religious genocide.
