FG to U.S. delegation: Security challenges in Nigeria not religious

The Federal Government has said that Nigeria’s current security challenges are not religious in nature.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) said this while addressing newsmen after a closed-door meeting with a U.S. Congressman and the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr.

Fagbemi insisted that concerted efforts are being made to tackle terrorism and all forms of violent extremism across the country.

“This meeting is an opportunity for the federal government to present its perspective on terrorism and insecurity bedeviling Nigeria and to allow the visiting US lawmaker to assess the situation firsthand.

“We have explained this to them when we entered Washington, and I am happy that they are also here to see things for themselves.

“We have security challenges, and the government is doing its utmost best to ensure that these challenges are addressed.”

He said that his ministry being responsible for prosecuting suspects arrested in connection with terrorism and extremism-related offences follows due process in handling such cases.

“The one that concerns the Federal Ministry of Justice is about the prosecution of the people arrested in connection with extremism, and we are able to explain to them how far we have come and what we are also doing.

“As we speak, terrorism trials are still ongoing, between 2017 and 2025, the government had secured 860 convictions and 891 discharges.

“These figures reflect the government’s commitment to the rule of law, we don’t just arrest people and clamp them into prison. We follow due process.

“They are profiled, hose who have nothing to do with it are let off the hook while those we believe we have cases against, we take them to court and it is for the court to decide,” the AGF added.

He reiterated that the federal government abides by court decisions, whether convictions or acquittals.

“So whenever the court takes a decision, we comply with or abide by the decision, and that is why we have both convictions and acquittals,” he said.

“We are not the only agency that they are visiting, they have visited a number of agencies as well

He, therefore, urged the public to avoid exaggerating the security situation in the country.

“I want to tell you that things are not as heinous as people are portraying. I can assure you of that. We have problems in Nigeria. It is not a problem of religion,” he explained further.

Our correspondent reports that U.S President Donald Trump, had in October declared Nigeria as a ‘country of particular concern’ in response to allegations of a Christian genocide in the country.

Trump, in a Truth Social media post shared on the White House’s X handle, stated that “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria.

Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern.’’