The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s description of Nigeria as a “disgraced country,” warning that the statement endangers national unity and reinforces misleading narratives about religious conflict.
Following an Expanded General Purpose Committee meeting in Abuja chaired by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Council said such rhetoric undermines Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and ignores the reality that insecurity affects citizens of all faiths.
NSCIA Secretary-General, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, told journalists that both Christians and Muslims are victims of terrorism, banditry and communal clashes driven by criminality, climate pressures and governance failures—not religious persecution.
He criticised claims of a Christian genocide as false and politically motivated, accusing lobby groups of misleading the U.S. and influencing Washington’s redesignation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
The Council urged Trump to retract his statement and instead support Nigeria with intelligence, logistics and capacity-building assistance.
This comes as the United Kingdom updated its travel advisory, warning British nationals against visiting 21 Nigerian states due to worsening insecurity.
The advisory cited increased kidnapping, violent crime and intercommunal clashes, identifying high-risk areas across the North-East, North-West, North-Central, South-East and parts of the South-South, while also flagging rising street crime in Lagos and firearm-related violence even within Abuja’s affluent districts.
Amid rising tensions, the Alliance for Yoruba Democratic Movements (AYDM) urged South-West governors to prepare for possible spillovers from any U.S. strike on terrorist cells in Nigeria.
The group warned that such action could push extremist fighters southward and advocated stronger regional intelligence efforts and cooperation with Yoruba self-determination groups.
It accused political leaders of downplaying the scale of insecurity and called for sanctions on states and individuals allegedly aiding terrorism.
Meanwhile, policy think tank IMPI faulted the U.S. decision to redesignate Nigeria as a CPC, accusing organisations like Intersociety and Open Doors of inflating casualty figures to push a false genocide narrative.
Religious leader Pastor Enoch Adeboye also weighed in, urging President Bola Tinubu to act decisively by securing diplomatic grace from the U.S. and giving security chiefs a 90-day ultimatum to dismantle terrorist networks.