Pastor Wale Adefarasin, senior pastor of Guiding Light Assembly, has questioned the United States’ newfound concern for Christians in Nigeria following President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about purported religious persecution in the country.
In a video that went viral on Monday, Adefarasin stated that the killings of Christians in regions of northern Nigeria were not new and should not be portrayed as genocides.
He said, “For 40 years that I have been a Christian, there have been killings in southern Kaduna, killings on the plateau, and there have been riots.
“Sometimes, I think it was in France, an image of Prophet Muhammad was defaced. Who remembers that? And as a result of that, there were killings of Christians in Nigeria.”
According to him, the West’s representation of the situation in Nigeria as one in which Christians are constantly attacked is false.
“And so, it’s nothing new. It doesn’t amount to genocide. The way the West are talking about it, it’s as if if a Christian steps on the street, his head will be blown off,” he added.
The pastor went on to query the reasons for the United States’ rising involvement in Nigeria’s domestic affairs.
“I’m trying to understand this sudden love for Christians. Is it because we now have one of the largest refineries in the world and no longer have to ship raw materials abroad and bring back the finished products?
“Or is it because of the 21st-century minerals that we now have in our earth, which are used to generate nuclear power for electric vehicles? Are those the reasons that our friends are threatening to invade our country to defend and protect Nigerian Christians?” he asked.
His remarks came amid a flood of protests from Nigerian authorities, priests, and civil society organizations in response to Trump’s threat of military action in Nigeria over the alleged death of Christians.
