Former Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani, has criticised American rapper Nicki Minaj for making what he called exaggerated and misleading claims about a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria. He accused her of exploiting the country’s security challenges to ingratiate herself with United States President Donald Trump, who has recently intensified his rhetoric on religious persecution.
Minaj, speaking at a United Nations event hosted by US Ambassador Mike Waltz on Tuesday, alleged widespread killings of Christians in Nigeria, claiming churches were being burned and communities wiped out “simply because of their faith.” Her remarks, widely shared online, added fuel to ongoing diplomatic tensions between Abuja and Washington.
“In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes, and killed,” Minaj said, insisting the world must not remain silent.
Her comments closely followed Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” and his threat—posted on Truth Social—to deploy US troops to “wipe out Islamic terrorists” allegedly responsible for the violence. Trump also hinted at cutting aid to Nigeria if the situation persists.
Sani, however, dismissed Minaj’s statements as uninformed and politically motivated. In a strongly worded reaction, he accused the rapper of repeating a distorted narrative tailored to align with Trump’s political agenda.
“The UN has allowed Nicki Minaj to disseminate lies about a fictitious genocide in Nigeria,” Sani said. “She knows nothing about the country and has never visited any community affected by conflict.”
He criticised Minaj for having no known record of humanitarian work in Nigeria and questioned her credibility as an advocate. “While other Western celebrities champion causes like hunger, education, and gender rights, Minaj has nothing of substance on record—only rapping gibberish and flaunting outfits that contradict our cultural values,” he said.
He added that Minaj “should not use Nigerian issues to please Trump,” urging her instead to address social challenges in Trinidad and Tobago, her country of birth.
The Nigerian government has also faulted the United States Mission to the UN for excluding its representatives from the event where Minaj spoke. Syndoph Endoni, Chargé d’Affaires at Nigeria’s Permanent Mission, compared the exclusion to “shaving our head in our absence,” criticising the US for discussing Nigeria without involving Nigerian officials.
“You cannot make decisions about a country without its participation,” Endoni said, noting that Nigeria was denied the chance to correct misinformation or offer a fuller picture of the security landscape.
US officials reportedly told him the exclusion was due to “participant safety concerns.”
At the UN session, Ambassador Waltz described the attacks on Christians as “genocide wearing the mask of chaos,” insisting that evidence pointed to targeted violence, including the killing of clergy and destruction of churches. Advocacy group Open Doors also noted that the violence, once concentrated in the north, is now spreading to the Middle Belt and parts of the south.
President Bola Tinubu, responding to the controversy, rejected the characterisation of Nigeria as a country hostile to religious freedom. He emphasised that his administration has been working with Christian and Muslim leaders to combat extremist attacks.
“The portrayal of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our reality,” Tinubu said, stressing that religious freedom “is central to our national identity.”
Leave a Reply