Michael OKEOLA

 

The word genocide carries a brutal weight — the intentional targeting of a people because of their identity. In Nigeria today, too many communities live under this shadow. From the massacres in Plateau to attacks in Kaduna, Benue, Zamfara, and Taraba, one question returns again and again in national conversations: Are these attacks a genocide against Christians, or a genocide against Nigerians as a whole?

It is a difficult but necessary question, especially in a nation where the value of human life seems to be sinking under the burden of insecurity, political failure, and ethnic tension.

 

A Pattern That Can No Longer Be Ignored

For years, reports have documented the burning of villages, night raids, kidnappings, targeted killings, and forced displacements. Many of the worst-hit communities are predominantly Christians, especially in the Middle Belt. Churches have been destroyed, priests kidnapped or murdered, and worshippers killed even during services. These realities have led many observers to claim that Christians are specifically being targeted.

Yet, an honest look at Nigeria’s wider landscape shows that violence does not stop at religious boundaries. Entire Muslim communities in Zamfara, Niger, Sokoto, and Katsina have also been wiped out. Farmers, traders, and ordinary citizens — regardless of faith — have all become victims of the same widespread insecurity. So the question becomes: Is this really a religious purge, or is it a national collapse that endangers everyone?

 

A Relevant Insight from the Pulpit

During the recent celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King, the Bishop of Oyo Diocese, Most Rev. Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo, offered a perspective that speaks to the heart of the matter. Without minimizing the real suffering of Christian communities, he reminded the faithful that: “If there is a genocide, it is a genocide against Nigerians.”

He acknowledged the persecution Christians have faced — in Nigeria, Gaza, Yemen, and other troubled regions — yet he insisted that every human life, Christian or Muslim, carries equal dignity. His point was simple but profound: when violence becomes this widespread, the target is no longer one group, but the nation itself.

The Bishop also urged Nigerians not to lose hope, reminding them that evil does not erase divine purpose. “God always has a plan,” he said, calling citizens to remain vigilant, morally awake, and united in defending life.

 

The Real Enemy: A Culture of Impunity

Whether one analyzes the data along religious, ethnic, or geographical lines, a disturbing truth emerges: Nigeria is suffering from a culture of impunity that allows mass killings to continue without consequence.

Attackers strike repeatedly, often in the same regions, yet arrests are rare, prosecutions almost non-existent. When a nation cannot protect its people — or hold killers accountable, the door opens for what can accurately be described as slow-motion genocide.

And when any group becomes vulnerable, every other group eventually follows.

 

A Genocide Against Identity, Survival, and Hope

To insist that Nigerian Christians are singled out is understandable, many carry the deepest scars. But to say only Christians are under threat is to overlook the vast number of Muslim families who have also lost entire communities, or the ethnic minorities whose ancestral lands have become battlefields.

 

What Nigeria faces today is a Genocide Against Nigerians:

A genocide against the rural poor, a genocide against farmers, a genocide against children who will never see adulthood, a genocide against hope, peace, and national cohesion. Violence does not ask for a voter’s card or baptismal certificate. It simply destroys.

 

Refusing to Normalize the Unthinkable

The greatest danger is not the killings themselves, but the growing national numbness. Nigerians scroll past headlines of massacres with frightening ease. Statements are issued, promises made, and life returns to routine — until the next mass grave is discovered. This is how societies lose their humanity.

 

A Call to Truth and Justice

So, is Nigeria witnessing genocide against Christians or genocide against Nigerians? The most truthful answer is this:

Christians are suffering deeply — but the nation as a whole is bleeding. What threatens one community threatens all.

If Nigeria must survive, leaders must rise above politics and sentiment. Security agencies must act without bias. Citizens must reject narratives that weaken national unity. And as Bishop Badejo emphasized, Nigerians must return to the moral values that protect life and human dignity. Because in the end, a genocide against any Nigerian is a genocide against Nigeria itself.