Lt Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd), former chief of army staff, says claims of targeted Christian killings in Nigeria is simply “propaganda.”
Dambazau was chief of army staff from 2008 to 2010 and minister of interior from 2015 to 2019.
Speaking at the 7th annual public lecture of the ‘Just Friends Club of Nigeria’ in Abuja, Dambazau said the pervasive narratives, amplified by some US politicians and clergymen, distort the reality of Nigeria’s security crisis and threaten the country’s fragile unity.
“In the more than ten years of US presence in Niger, where it maintained two military bases, what did the US do to prevent the growth of security challenges?” he asked.
“It is also on record that at the initial second coming of the Trump administration, US Congressmen accused USAID of terrorism financing in Africa.
“I think the US is looking for an opportunity to establish an alternative base in Nigeria, a country known to protect only its interests by any means possible, including the use of force.
“Unfortunately, they have willing partners in Nigeria. It is clear that there is a lack of national cohesion in facing a common enemy to address terrorism and criminal violence in the country.
“It is a known fact that terrorists, secessionists, militants, bandits, and insurgents attack individuals and communities regardless of their faith or ethnicity.
“The lack of national cohesion in finding solutions to security challenges in Nigeria is a major reason for the intractable herder-farmer conflicts.
“Rather than joining hands to confront the root causes of these conflicts, we have turned them into indigene-settler and ethno-religious conflicts.”
Dambazau said Nigeria’s security crisis is the outcome of weak governance, corruption, and poor coordination among security agencies.
He added that decades of mismanagement have militarised policing, undermined professionalism, and eroded public trust.
“We can’t shoot our way out of insecurity. Bullets and boots alone won’t solve problems rooted in poverty, unemployment, and exclusion,” he said.
“Real security is people-centred — it is about freedom from fear and freedom from want.”
He also called for a new internal security paradigm built on intelligence, local participation, and community policing.
“We must reform the security sector, integrate traditional structures, and leverage technology to anticipate and prevent threats,” he added.
“When leaders use security resources for regime protection instead of national protection, the system collapses.
“Nigeria needs unity and purpose, not propaganda and division.”
Trump had in a post, shared on his Truth Social account and the White House’s X handle on Friday, claimed that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria.
On Friday, Trump redesignated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern”.
He has also warned that the US could enter Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to protect the Christian population.
