— ‘You cannot spend hundreds of millions defending Nigeria’s image abroad while communities are being buried at home’
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has launched a blistering attack on the Federal Government over the reported expenditure of N500 million on an emergency strategic communications campaign aimed at countering international claims of Christian persecution in Nigeria, describing the expenditure as a disturbing example of misplaced priorities amid continuing insecurity.
HURIWA said the reported expenditure raises fundamental questions about the government’s priorities, transparency and commitment to protecting citizens, particularly vulnerable Christian communities in parts of the North and Middle Belt.
The rights group said it was particularly alarmed by the description attached to the expenditure, reportedly released on December 19, 2025, to the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Policy Communications for an “emergency Strategic Communications & Global Media Engagement” campaign to counter what the government described as coordinated Western propaganda over alleged Christian persecution.
HURIWA’s position is that the government should be spending its resources on preventing killings and protecting communities, rather than spending public money primarily to contest the narrative surrounding those killings.
The Rights organisation said the central question confronting Nigerians is not whether the government can produce a more persuasive international media campaign, but whether citizens are safe in their homes, farms, places of worship and communities.
“A government cannot defeat insecurity with propaganda. It cannot protect citizens with public relations campaigns. And it cannot bury the truth beneath a mountain of carefully crafted media messaging.”
HURIWA said the reported N500 million expenditure becomes even more troubling against the backdrop of continuing violence in parts of Plateau and Benue states and other conflict-affected areas.
The organisation said the government must explain why such a substantial sum was considered an emergency communications priority when Nigerians are demanding visible investments in security, intelligence gathering, protection of vulnerable communities, emergency response and the rebuilding of devastated areas.
‘WHAT EXACTLY WAS THE N500M FOR?’
HURIWA challenged the Federal Government to provide Nigerians with a comprehensive account of the expenditure.
The organisation demanded clarification on the specific companies, consultants, media organisations or agencies that received the funds; the services delivered; the procurement process used; the measurable objectives of the campaign; and the evidence that the expenditure produced value for money.
HURIWA said transparency is particularly important because the reported expenditure was made from public resources.
The rights group insisted that Nigerians have a right to know whether the N500 million produced measurable security, diplomatic or policy outcomes or merely financed public relations efforts designed to improve the government’s image internationally.
“If the government believes the N500 million was properly spent, let the details be published. Let Nigerians know who received the money, what was delivered, what was achieved and why the expenditure was necessary. Public money cannot disappear into the black hole of ‘strategic communications’ while citizens are left to count corpses.”
NIGERIA’S SECURITY CRISIS CANNOT BE SPUN AWAY
HURIWA said the reported communications campaign must be viewed against the broader security crisis confronting the country.
According to the figures cited in the material reviewed by the organisation, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) recorded 7,956 conflict incidents in Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026, with approximately 15,000 deaths and an estimated 66.8 million people exposed to violence and insecurity.
HURIWA said the figures, if accurately reported, should provoke an emergency national security response rather than an emergency public relations response.
It noted that the affected states include Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Benue and Plateau, demonstrating that insecurity is neither geographically isolated nor limited to a single religious or ethnic community.
HURIWA therefore rejected any attempt to reduce the national security crisis to a contest over competing narratives.
The organisation acknowledged the Federal Government’s position that victims of violence include Christians and Muslims and that the security crisis involves terrorism, banditry, communal violence and other criminal activities.
However, it said this does not remove the government’s responsibility to investigate and respond effectively to credible allegations of attacks targeting Christian communities or any other vulnerable population.
“Whether a victim is Christian, Muslim or adherent of any other faith, the Nigerian state has one overriding obligation: protect life. The government must stop treating the documentation of killings as a public-relations inconvenience. Every Nigerian life matters.”
‘LOBBYISTS CANNOT SUBSTITUTE FOR SECURITY’
HURIWA also raised questions over reports that the Federal Government engaged a United States-based lobbying and public affairs firm, DCI Group, through Aster Legal, in a reported $9 million annual arrangement intended to strengthen Nigeria’s engagement with U.S. policymakers and communicate the government’s efforts to protect Christian communities.
The organisation said it was deeply concerned by the apparent scale of resources being committed to international reputation management at a time when Nigeria is facing a severe security crisis.
HURIWA said it was not opposed to legitimate diplomatic engagement or strategic communication with foreign governments.
What it rejects, it said, is the possibility of using expensive lobbying and public relations campaigns as substitutes for tangible action against terrorism, banditry and attacks on vulnerable communities.
The organisation therefore challenged the Federal Government to publish the complete terms of the reported lobbying arrangement and explain precisely what Nigerians are receiving in return for the expenditure.
HURIWA asked:
• What specific deliverables are contained in the contract?
• Which Nigerian public authority authorised the engagement?
• What procurement procedure was followed?
• What measurable outcomes have been achieved?
• How does the expenditure improve the physical security of Nigerians?
• What portion of the resources is directed towards intelligence, prevention, prosecution and community protection?
• Who independently evaluates the performance of the lobbyists?
The organisation said Nigerians should not be asked to accept the argument that international criticism can be defeated by public relations while the underlying security concerns remain unresolved.
HURIWA TO GOVERNMENT: CONFRONT THE KILLINGS, NOT THE NARRATIVE
HURIWA said the Federal Government’s repeated insistence that Nigeria’s insecurity is not religious persecution must be matched with credible investigations and transparent prosecution whenever attacks occur.
The group said government cannot simply dismiss allegations of targeted persecution as foreign propaganda without demonstrating, through facts and effective security interventions, that vulnerable communities are being adequately protected.
It also condemned attempts by extremists to exploit religious divisions and warned that the government must avoid both denial and sensationalism.
According to HURIWA, the appropriate response to allegations of Christian persecution is neither propaganda nor denial but transparent investigation, effective protection, prosecution of perpetrators and justice for victims.
The organisation said the same standard must apply to attacks against Muslims and other communities.
PLATEAU KILLINGS: ‘HOW MANY MORE FAMILIES MUST DIE?’
HURIWA said the reported killing of members of the extended family of Plateau-based cleric, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, has further exposed the urgency of the security crisis.
According to the material cited by the organisation, nine members of the cleric’s extended family were killed in an attack at Kum village in Rim District of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.
HURIWA condemned the reported attack and expressed concern that authorities had yet to announce arrests in connection with the killings.
The organisation said the incident should not become another statistic in Nigeria’s growing catalogue of unresolved attacks.
It demanded a transparent investigation, the identification and prosecution of the perpetrators and credible measures to prevent further attacks on vulnerable communities.
HURIWA also condemned the reported targeting of the cleric’s family and said security agencies must urgently establish the motive behind the attack and whether it formed part of a broader pattern of violence in the area.
WASHINGTON’S CONCERN CANNOT BE DISMISSED AS ‘PROPAGANDA’
HURIWA further noted the reported condemnation by the United States of the Plateau killings and Washington’s call for the Nigerian government to strengthen protection for Christians and other vulnerable communities.
The organisation said the international concern should not be treated simply as an image-management problem.
If foreign governments, international organisations, civil society groups and affected communities are independently raising concerns over violence, HURIWA argued, the appropriate response is to investigate the allegations and publish credible findings.
“The answer to international concern is not to hire more people to explain away Nigeria’s security failures. The answer is to make those failures disappear through effective governance, competent policing, intelligence-led operations and justice.”
TINUBU GOVERNMENT MUST CHOOSE ACCOUNTABILITY OVER PROPAGANDA
HURIWA said President Bola Tinubu’s repeated assurances that terrorism and banditry would be defeated must now be matched by measurable results.
The organisation recalled the President’s pledge that the government would overcome terrorism and banditry, insisting that Nigerians are entitled to demand evidence of progress.
It said security should not be measured principally by speeches, campaigns, diplomatic letters or international public relations efforts but by whether citizens can safely travel, farm, worship, attend school and sleep in their homes.
HURIWA therefore called on the Federal Government to immediately:
1. Publish full details of the reported N500 million strategic communications expenditure, including beneficiaries, procurement procedures, deliverables and outcomes.
2. Publish the full terms and financial details of the reported $9 million lobbying arrangement, including the public authority that authorised it and the specific services contracted.
3. Redirect national resources towards the protection of vulnerable communities, intelligence gathering, modern policing, rapid response and prosecution of perpetrators.
4. Establish transparent investigations into major attacks, including the reported killing of members of Rev. Dachomo’s family, and publish the outcome.
5. Stop treating credible reports of religiously motivated violence as merely a public relations challenge.
6. Ensure that security agencies protect Christians, Muslims and all other Nigerians without discrimination, while holding perpetrators accountable regardless of their identity or affiliation.
7. Publish measurable security benchmarks against which Nigerians can assess the government’s repeated pledges to defeat terrorism and banditry.
8. Strengthen accountability for security expenditure, particularly where enormous sums are committed to emergency programmes without clear evidence of measurable outcomes.
‘NIGERIANS NEED SECURITY, NOT SPIN’
HURIWA said the most powerful international campaign Nigeria could mount would be to create a country where attacks on communities are prevented, perpetrators are arrested, victims receive justice and citizens no longer live in fear.
The organisation warned that no amount of lobbying can permanently conceal the consequences of insecurity.
“Nigeria does not need a propaganda war against the people documenting insecurity. Nigeria needs a war against the insecurity itself.
“The government should not spend hundreds of millions trying to convince the world that Nigerians are safe when Nigerians themselves know whether they are safe or not.
“The strongest public relations campaign for Nigeria is security. The strongest defence against allegations of persecution is justice. And the most convincing response to international criticism is competent governance.”
HURIWA therefore urged President Tinubu to place the protection of human life above political messaging and international image management, insisting that the credibility of government cannot be manufactured by consultants, lobbyists or media campaigns. It must be earned through the protection of citizens and accountability for those who violate their rights.
The organisation said Nigerians are tired of promises and narratives and are demanding results.
“A nation cannot be secured from Washington conference rooms or media studios. It must be secured in the villages, towns, farms, highways, schools and places of worship where ordinary Nigerians are exposed to violence.
“The Federal Government must stop fighting the narrative and start winning the war against insecurity. Nigerians need security, not spin. They need justice, not propaganda. They need government action, not government explanations.”
Signed:
Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko
National Coordinator
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA)
July 25, 2026
