Prominent pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has dismissed the views expressed by Mr. Daniel Bwala the political jobber and president Tinubu’s Adviser on policy communications, particularly on the original and validity of the story of the genocide of Christians in Nigeria, as nonsensical and tissues of illogicality from someone who will say one thing in the morning and by noon tide he would change that same story. “Daniel Bwala speaks from both sides of his mouth and is a person whose main interest is devoid of altruistic and valuable quality.”
HURIWA has also challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to personally inform Nigerians and specifically the good people of Igboland WORLDWIDE whether he authorised the rubbish, offensive, toxic and dangerous view on the origine of the information on the genocide of Christians in Nigeria by Islamic terrorists which Mr. Daniel Bwala has just attributed to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
HURIWA in a media statement endorsed by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, recalled that Bwala, the presidential aide who was once a staff of the opposition politician and erstwhile Vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar just before he, Mr. Bwala, crossed over to the camp of the president and accepted the offer of an adviser, has insisted that the long-debated claim of Christian genocide in Nigeria was falsely originated by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
A report published earlier this month by The
New York Times had accused Emeka Umeagbalasi, a trader and leader of an Onitsha-based NGO, Intersociety, of masterminding the genocide claim that prompted the action of U.S. President Donald Trump and some lawmakers.
HURIWA had strongly dismissed and debunked the story by The New York Times as tales by moonlight and an absolute falsehood just as the group insisted that the narrative about the ongoing genocide of Christians in Nigeria by Islamic terrorists is factually accurate and are recorded events from actual killings of Christians including worshippers inside churches, abductions and killings of hundreds of Clerics and the destruction of Churches and so the story of the genocide of Christians in Nigeria by Islamic terrorists which the president Tinubu’s government deny shamelessly, wasn’t exaggerated or manufactured by either IPOB, the Onitsha based activist, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi or anyone as such.
Reacting to the report, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, said the facts are beginning to emerge.
In a statement on his official X handle yesterday, Bwala recalled a series of interviews where he declared that IPOB was behind the narrative.
HURIWA in its reaction to the recent comment by Daniel Bwala, dismissed it as a view coming from a man with doubtful antecedents given that this was a man who called president Tinubu the the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, all sorts of umprintable names whilst he, Mr. Bwala was a staff of the then opposition presidential candidates of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar but this man Daniel Bwala jumped ship as soon as Tinubu whom he even allegedly labelled a ‘Drug Baron’ became president of Nigeria on May 29th 2023, and accepted the less fanciful and dormant office of Special Adviser on policy out of the over 4 Special Communication and media advisers appointed by president Tinubu.
HURIWA said the claim of Bwala is a lie from the pit of hell because multiple credible sources both internationally and locally have clearly documented evidence of mass killings and mass burials of Christians in the North after multiple attacks by Islamic extremists.
HURIWA wondered how Daniel Bwala is shifting the source of real life happenings of killings to what he has conjured up as fabrication from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in his disguised morbid fear of the Igbos which he deceitfully substituted the word Igbo for IPOB. “Daniel Bwala is IGBOPHOBIC and is a person with inconsistency and unreliability. So his claims on any historical issue would be doubted by any sane person.”
HURIWA has also dismissed the views expressed severally by even president Tinubu in person in which he denied the existence of a genocide targeting Christians in Nigeria by Islamic terrorists just as the Rights group said the position of this current administration and the decision of this government to fritter $9 million dollars on a US Republican party lobbying firm to lie about the killings of Christians in Nigeria is provocative and insensitive.
HURIWA said aside multiple sources, the Catholic Bishops conference of Nigeria has consistently issued media releases to assert that Christians are facing genocide by Islamic terrorists just as the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi and many other community leaders had briefed the United States Congress in America about the ongoing killings of Christians in Nigeria by Islamic terrorists therefore we wonder why the President Tinubu’s government is attempting to shift the blame to Igbos or a section of Igbo as the source of the story on the genocide of Christians in Nigeria by Islamic extremists. “How can anyone manufacture a story of real life factually accurate happenings and events that still have living eye witnesses scattered all around the World?Even as we write, churches were invaded by Islamists in Kaduna and over 200 worshippers were allegedly abducted by Islamic terrorists.”
The Rights group recalled that on November 27, 2025, the Catholic bishops conference of Nigeria raised their concern over violations of the rights of Christian minorities in several northern states:
“The denial of land for the construction of churches, particularly within federal institutions, and the destruction of Christian places of worship, especially at the height of Boko Haram’s insurgency, are matters that demand urgent and decisive government action. The overreach of Sharia Courts in some states poses serious constitutional concerns, as it threatens Nigeria’s secular character and infringes on the rights of Christian minorities.”
They invoke the 2022 killing of Deborah Samuel Yakubu in Sokoto, for which they continue demanding justice, and note that Sharia-based morality enforcement groups like the Hisbah have harassed both Christians and Muslims:
“We once again demand justice for her, as impunity in such cases undermines the rule of law and endangers the rights of all citizens.”
The Rights group also affirmed that the Catholic Bishops conference of Nigeria last December issued a scientific report showing that between 2015 and 2025, at least 212 Catholic priests were kidnapped in Nigeria, in a wave of violence that affects the whole country. This is revealed by an ongoing study carried out by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria shared with the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The research documents kidnappings in at least 41 of the country’s 59 Catholic dioceses and archdioceses. The data is consistent with the findings of ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025, which identifies Nigeria as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for clergy and religious leaders.
According to the document sent to a global publication known as ACN, of the 212 kidnapped, 183 were released or escaped, 12 were murdered and three died later as a result of trauma and injuries suffered during their captivity.
Currently, at least four kidnapped priests remain in captivity: Father John Bako Shekwolo, Father Pascal Bobbo, Father Emmanuel Ezema, and Father Joseph Igweagu. The report also confirms that at least six priests were kidnapped more than once, highlighting the persistent vulnerability of Catholic clergy.
More priests than we know about
However, the real number of cases is certainly higher. Data from 18 dioceses has not yet been submitted, and ACN has independently recorded isolated kidnapping cases during the last years in at least five other dioceses not covered in the study so far.
In addition, the report does not include incidents involving religious orders and congregations.
The diocese with the highest number of kidnappings in the report is Okigwe, with 47 cases, followed by Port Harcourt (14) and Nsukka (13). Several other dioceses also report particularly high figures, including Kaduna, Kafanchan and Nnewi, each with nine kidnappings.
In terms of fatalities, the Archdiocese of Kaduna has suffered the highest number of murdered priests in the past decade (four), followed by Kafanchan (two), Minna (two), and Abeokuta, Nnewi, Owerri and Sokoto (one each).
The impact of this violence has been devastating for local Christian communities. Entire villages have been displaced, parishes abandoned and pastoral life severely disrupted across wide areas of the country. In the Diocese of Minna alone, more than 90 churches have been forced to close due to sustained terrorist activity and chronic insecurity. Many priests were kidnapped directly from their rectories, while travelling for pastoral work, or on their way to celebrate Mass.
Who is behind the violence? A complex reality
The violence devastating Nigeria does not affect Christians alone. Terrorism, armed banditry and kidnappings also claim the lives of many Muslims. However, in large parts of the country, Christians are subjected to targeted persecution because of their faith, particularly in regions dominated by jihadist groups and ethnic-religious militias.
COMRADE EMMANUEL NNADOZIE ONWUBIKO,
NATIONAL COORDINATOR,
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA). WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21ST, 2026.
