The Labour Party (LP) has accused President Bola Tinubu of hypocrisy and denial over targeted attacks on Christians.
The interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, pointed out that while Goodluck Jonathan was President, Tinubu never hesitated to call him out over the killings perpetrated by Boko Haram.
He stated this during an interview with Punch while reacting to President Donald Trump’s public threat to use military force over the alleged killings of Christians in Nigeria
The U.S. President, in a fiery post on his Truth Social platform, declared that Nigeria had been designated a “Country of Particular Concern” and directed his Department of War to “prepare for possible action” if the killings continued.
Reacting, Akeni said, “Eleven years ago, before Bola Tinubu railroaded the system to declare him President, he tweeted in 2014 that the killing of Christian worshippers was condemnable and questioned Jonathan’s competence.
“At that time, about 11,000 Christians had been killed by Boko Haram in four years. Another 6,500 died between 2010 and 2015. Under Tinubu, that figure has skyrocketed to over 14,000 within two years, nearly double the PDP-era rate.”
Akeni described Tinubu’s dismissal of targeted Christian killings as “wicked, godless, and unpatriotic,” and commended Trump and other U.S. officials for their “courage and conviction.”
He also urged the U.S. to extend protection to liberal Muslim communities that have stood against extremism.
“They have shown that a united Nigeria, irrespective of religion or politics, is possible if we have good leaders,” he said.
President Tinubu, in a statement posted on X, rejected Trump’s classification of Nigeria as religiously intolerant, insisting that the country remains committed to constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.