…NSA, Service Chiefs hold closed-door meeting
…Chad shuts border with Nigeria over fleeing terrorists
…Canada joins US, condemns alleged ‘Christian Genocide’
BY TONY UDOKA
The Nigerian Presidency on Monday firmly denied reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was due to travel to Washington this week for a meeting with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, describing the claim as “false, misleading, and deliberately provocative.”
The clarification followed an online media report that spread rapidly over the weekend, alleging that Tinubu had requested an emergency audience with the new Trump administration to discuss what American conservatives have called a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria.
According to the Presidency, no such meeting has been planned, and the entire narrative is a concoction designed to inflame an already delicate diplomatic atmosphere between Abuja and Washington. Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, took to his official X handle to set the record straight, calling the report “baseless, mischievous, and reckless.”
“There’s a story claiming that President Tinubu is heading to the U.S. on Tuesday to see Vice President J.D. Vance. That story is not true. If President Tinubu were to visit the White House, he would not be meeting with a Vice President. People should verify before spreading misinformation,” Ajayi wrote.
His statement came amid mounting global attention on Nigeria following remarks by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who over the weekend threatened possible military action against Nigeria if the government “fails to stop the killings of Christians.” Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump declared that the U.S. “might go in guns blazing” unless Abuja “acts decisively to end the slaughter.” He also hinted at suspending U.S. aid and “considering direct action” to protect persecuted Christians.
President Tinubu, through his verified X handle, responded with calm firmness, rejecting Trump’s allegations and reaffirming Nigeria’s long-standing constitutional commitment to religious liberty.
“Nigeria stands firmly as a democracy governed by constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. Our government protects the rights and lives of all citizens, Christian, Muslim, or of any other faith. That is our constitutional duty and our moral conviction,” Tinubu said.
Tinubu described the allegations of “Christian genocide” as an attempt to distort Nigeria’s reality for political gain abroad. “Nigeria is not a nation consumed by religious hatred. We are a nation of shared markets and mixed marriages, of mosques beside churches, of unity built in diversity. Religious tolerance is not merely a constitutional promise, it is who we are as a people,” he stated.
The President emphasized that since taking office in 2023, his administration has been working closely with both Christian and Muslim leaders to build interfaith dialogue and address root causes of communal violence, including poverty, land conflict, and extremist infiltration. He called on foreign governments and media organizations to engage constructively rather than fuel division.
“Diplomacy, not threats, is the foundation of our relationship with the United States. Nigeria will always welcome partnership to secure peace for all communities, but no nation should be misled into painting us as monsters for political theater,” he added.
Meanwhile, the tension stirred by Trump’s statement prompted Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to convene an emergency meeting in Abuja on Monday with the new Service Chiefs and intelligence heads.
The meeting, held behind closed doors at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, was aimed at assessing the diplomatic, security, and public-relations fallout from Trump’s threat and coordinating a national response.
Sources familiar with the deliberations said the discussions were wide-ranging, spanning intelligence briefings, border surveillance updates, and strategies for engagement with U.S. diplomats. Attendees included the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, Chiefs of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, and Chief of Air Staff, Air Mashall Sunday Kelvin Aneke, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun and the Director-General of the Department of State Services.
According to an insider, “The mood was serious but composed. The consensus was that Nigeria cannot allow external narratives to define its internal realities.” Another senior official disclosed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has activated back-channel communications with the U.S. Department of State and the Nigerian Embassy in Washington “to clarify facts before the controversy snowballs into a full-blown diplomatic standoff.”
In the meantime, civil society reactions have been mixed. Christian associations have urged the government to see the uproar as an opportunity to improve protection for vulnerable worshippers in conflict-prone regions, while Muslim groups have cautioned against overreaction, urging unity and patience. Several human rights organizations, too, have called for transparency, arguing that both governments must prioritize dialogue over propaganda.
As the Presidency maintained its composure, a related development to the northeast added a new layer of tension, with the Chadian Government on Monday abruptly announcing the closure of its borders with Nigeria, citing security threats and fears of infiltration by armed groups.
Military sources in N’Djamena confirmed that President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno ordered the lockdown after intelligence suggested that terrorist elements from Nigeria’s Borno and Yobe States were attempting to cross into Chadian territory to escape possible U.S. or regional airstrikes.
Zagazola Makama, a respected West African security analyst, reported that Chadian troops and armored vehicles have been deployed along the border, with strict orders to prevent any armed infiltration. President Déby, he said, has vowed that “no foreign militant or military force will be allowed to cross into Chad under any pretext.”
While Nigeria’s northern borders braced for heightened patrols, the controversy spilled over to Canada, where lawmakers echoed U.S. concerns over what they described as escalating persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
Andrew Scheer, a Member of Parliament and senior Conservative Party figure, raised the matter in a strongly worded address before the Canadian Parliament. “Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the tragedy Christians in Nigeria are experiencing,” Scheer began, describing the situation as a humanitarian catastrophe that has gone largely ignored by the global community.
He accused extremist groups of waging a coordinated campaign to “wipe out the Christian faith” in Nigeria, citing Boko Haram and other insurgent factions as culprits behind years of bloodshed, displacement, and destruction. “This is the same terrorist group that kidnapped dozens of schoolgirls and burned civilians alive in cages,” he reminded lawmakers.
Scheer said Nigeria has suffered “mass killings, mass displacement, and destruction of churches,” with millions forced to flee their homes. “Three churches are destroyed every single day,” he lamented. “Seven thousand Christians have been massacred this year alone, and many now worship in secret or in burnt-out sanctuaries.”
He further criticized what he called “the deafening silence” of global leaders and the international press. “There are no embedded journalists covering the violence, no daily updates, no pressure on political leaders to respond,” he said. “The world has chosen to look away.”
Scheer called on the international community to break that silence and act decisively, warning that global indifference was allowing extremist groups to thrive.
“If we truly believe in human rights and religious freedom, then we must stand up for the persecuted in Nigeria,” he urged.