Former Nigerian Ambassador to Sudan, Ambassador Suleiman Dahiru, has attributed the growing international tension surrounding Nigeria’s security and religious crises to domestic missteps, including misinformation spread by certain religious leaders. Speaking during an interview on Trust TV on Monday from 8:31, November 10, 2025, Dahiru said Nigerians “allowed this thing to happen” through actions that misrepresented the nation before the global community. “We in Nigeria allowed this thing to happen,” he said. “I don’t like getting into religious arguments. But sometimes you have to express your opinion,” he added.
Dahiru noted that the situation worsened when some religious figures from Nigeria traveled to the United States to present distorted accounts of events in the country. “Some Christian clergymen went to the United States to talk about genocide against Christians,” he stated. When asked by the interviewer whether he was referring to the clergyman from Benue who testified before a U.S. congressional committee, Dahiru strongly criticized the claim. “The first thing I would say, these people don’t even know the meaning of the word genocide,” he replied.
He went on to explain that the term “genocide” carries a specific international definition, which, according to him, does not apply to Nigeria’s situation: “Genocide is a systematic state-sponsored elimination of a particular set of people or particular religion,” Dahiru explained. “But this is not what is happening in Nigeria. It is not genocide.” Ambassador Dahiru’s comments follow escalating diplomatic friction between Abuja and Washington after Nigeria’s recent designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” by the U.S. government. View, More,
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