Tuggar Appears on Piers Morgan Uncensored , Says 177 Christians Killed, 102 Churches Attacked, 98 Injured and 7 Abducted in Last Five Years

…Former Canadian MP, Goldie Ghamari challenges Tuggar, claims government complicit in alleged killings 

…We don’t want to be the next Sudan, Nigerian foreign minister says

Chiemelie Ezeobi

Nigerian Foreign Minister, Yusuf Tuggar on Tuesday said only 177 Christians were killed, 102 churches attacked, 98 injured and seven abducted by terrorists in the last five years. 

Tuggar, who made this claims in an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, addressed allegations of attacks on Christians and destruction of churches in Nigeria. 

While downplaying claims of genocide, he said the violence was caused by criminals rather than targeted persecution. 

In the interview with Morgan, he referenced Sudan as an example of what can happen when faith based agitation leads to country division. 

He said: “We have seen this sort of agitation by faith based organisations that is prelude to the breaking up of countries. We have seen it in Sudan we know the playbook. 

“There were agitations to create South Sudan which is predominantly a Christian country separate from North Sudan which is a Muslim country. 

“Now we have a situation where there is continuous fighting in South Sudan and another round is about to kick off the same thing in North Sudan. We don’t want to be the next Sudan.”

He rejected the accuracy of reported figures on Christian deaths and church attacks. “The reported figures on the number of Christians killed and churches burned in Nigeria are completely and totally inaccurate and false. 

“Many in the media have examined them they fact checked them and they have been shown to be totally inaccurate,” Tuggar said.

When asked by Morgan for statistics on Christian killed and churches destroyed in the past two years, he said: “In

two years, there has been 52..52…52 churches depending on which region you are referring to because they are different regions in Nigeria…”

However, someone, probably from his team threw a paper at him with the figures, which made him swerve from the camera to pick it up from which he read, “I can give you the figures right here now. There are….”

Morgan interrupted and pushed back the date to 2009 to which the minister responded, “the figure in the last five years for churches attacked, not destroyed are 102. 

“So we are not hiding any figures. It’s important to understand this. Same way mosques are destroyed. I don’t even have to mention that. Nigeria is configured in such a way that you have Muslim and Christian populations all across the country. 

“There are states out of the 36 states that have a high concentration of Christians the same way there are states with high concentration of Muslims. When we are counting death tolls in Nigeria we don’t necessarily go by religion. 

“Quite often it is difficult to identify the religion of an individual who has just lost their life. What we’re concerned about is that they’re Nigerians first and foremost.”

Later in the interview, Tuggar provided updated figures: “The number of Christians killed in the last five years is 177 with 102 churches attacked 98 injured and seven abducted. We are not hiding any facts.”

In response to his claims, Morgan brought on former Canadian MP Goldie Ghamari, to the show who challenged Tuggar, accusing him of lying and evading alleged documented evidence of jihadist attacks.

The former Ontario Provincial Parliament member for Carleton and human rights advocate alleged: “Piers what’s happening in Nigeria is jihad. It’s the exact same thing that happened on October 7 by Islamists when they broke into Israel and murdered Jews yelling ‘Allahu Akbar.’ 

“It’s the exact same thing that ISIS terrorists did to the Yezidis in Iraq. It’s the exact same thing that happened in Lebanon. It is 100 per cent jihad. We’ve seen it before. This is how the Islamist playbook always happens.

 “Right now you have a Muslim president and they decided to choose a Muslim vice president so there is actually no Christian representation in the Islamist government. 

“People need to look into the linkages between the current Nigerian government and the Islamic Republic of Iran. I can tell when someone is lying and avoiding the truth. That’s exactly what this foreign minister is doing and shame on him for lying.”

Tuggar on the other hand, while using colourful language responded: “It’s easier for her to sit thousands of miles away and play with people’s lives.”

Morgan also interviewed Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, the clergy from Plateau, who has been vocal about the alleged killings.

 The clergyman further alleged that he has “performed genocide burials more than 70 times in Nigeria”, adding that “Some of the graves are 501 people killed in one night”.