CAN Affirms Christian Genocide In Nigeria, Says Continued Denial Unjust

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 Northern states has affirmed that the killings of Christians in Northern Nigeria amount to genocide.

Making the affirmation on ARISE News on Wednesday, Chairman of the CAN in the 19 Northern states and the FCT, Rev. John Hayab, insisted that denial of their persecution is unjust to victims and their families.

This comes after recent remarks by US President, Donald Trump, who expressed concern over the targeting of Christians in Nigeria.

He stressed that while global leaders have raised alarms, Nigerian authorities must recognise that religiously motivated attacks have been ongoing for decades, long before the Boko Haram insurgency.

“Can I consider what has been happening as genocide against Christians? And my straightforward answer is yes. Yes,” Hayab affirmed, highlighting that the violence predates Boko Haram.

He noted that attempts to downplay the crisis as mere farmer-herder conflicts ignore the reality witnessed by those who have buried victims.

“Anybody who comes out and says there is no Christian genocide, should know that it is not fair to the Christians of Northern Nigeria,” he said.

He recounted past crises including the 2000 Sharia crisis in Kaduna and the 2002 Miss World riots, describing how pastors were killed and churches burnt.

“I actually did the burial,” he said, noting that many Christians had been buried in large numbers over the years and that detailed records of these killings exist.

Tracing the roots of religious extremism before Boko Haram, Hayab cited violent incidents from the 1970s, including the Maitatsine uprising, explaining that the only challenge was that at that time, there was no use of the term terrorism.

According to him, Boko Haram only made such ideology more official, with a doctrine that anyone who does not believe in their brand of Islam is considered an infidel.

He further recalled statements by past religious leaders in the 1980s, saying that such teachings helped entrench intolerance that still influences Nigeria’s politics and coexistence today.

“One particular leader came out publicly and said, according to Islamic teaching, a Christian cannot lead him and he cannot also be led by a woman. Such statements have lived with us for years and have continued to influence how people relate to each other,” Hayab said.

He also said that discrimination against Christians extends to education and worship in public institutions, noting that some Christian children are denied admission to certain universities simply for their faith, and in public schools, they often have to worship in classrooms due to the absence of chapels.

He further pleaded with the government and society to embrace dialogue and acknowledge the problem as the first step toward finding lasting solutions.

“If we acknowledge that Christians have been killed and truly, we’ve buried many, then we can start to correct it. But when you say there was nothing wrong, we will keep lying to ourselves.

“Acknowledging the pain of victims is the beginning of healing. We cannot build peace on denial,” he said.