Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK), has cautioned American comedian and commentator, Bill Maher, against orchestrating campaign of disinformation to paint Nigeria as a country indulged in Christian genocide.
Maher, also a talk show host, had claimed that over 100,000 Christians had been systematically killed in Nigeria and 18,000 Churches burnt, describing it as an attempt by Islamists to wipe out the Christian population.
Speaking on the September 26, 2025 edition of HBO talk show, ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’, Maher had said: ‘Nigeria, the fact that this issue has not gotten on people’s radar, it’s pretty amazing. If you don’t know what’s going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck. You are in a bubble.
However, reacting to the issue, the former Minister dismissed the claims as false and a campaign to divide Nigeria across religious lines.
He said, ‘A couple of days ago, Bill Maher, one of the top commentators and political pundits in the United States of America, with very massive following, a very powerful man with a powerful voice in America, together with Radio Genoa, which is also a very powerful medium, one of the most powerful in the United States, came up with some interesting observations, which of course are false. They said that 500,000 Christians were murdered in Nigeria by terrorists in the last one year. This is completely untrue, as you know, and it is what you call disinformation.
‘And it’s interesting that Bill Maher would do this just a few days after our Vice President went to the United Nations and made a historic and courageous speech, very inspiring speech, in which he condemned the things that were going on in Gaza, the murder, the genocide in Gaza, and in which he called for a two-state solution to the situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis as being the only way forward. That’s the stated position of our country. We are a sovereign country, and the speech was brilliant.
‘Evidently, this upset a few people in the American media and in the United States of America, and Bill Maher and those behind him now decided to organize an orchestrated campaign of disinformation to paint our country as a bunch of Christian haters and people that indulge in Christian genocide. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Their objective is to divide us, defame us, destroy us, cause us to turn against one another, and demonize us before the whole world as a precursor to now attempting to destabilize us, delegitimize us, decertify us, and call us a nation of interest in which they will now inflict and impose sanctions in order to bring us to our knees. Well, it’s not going to work.’
FFK added that while it is true that terrorists are unleashing deadly attacks in Nigeria, it is untrue to suggest that only Christians are being killed, noting that the criminals are not representatives of the Islamic faith.
‘Let me make this abundantly clear. We do have terrorists in this country, and people are being killed in this country, but it is not only Christians that are being killed. Christians and Muslims are being killed. They are being slaughtered by terrorists who are not even representative of the Islamic faith. They are nothing but criminals and terrorists, and our armed forces and security agencies are killing them in equal measure and fighting back.’
‘We are doing our very best, and I might add, without any help from the Americans or the French or the Brits or anybody else, we are doing it on our own. We’re doing a good job. We’re doing it as best as we can. The idea that only Christians are being slaughtered in our country is a complete falsehood. It’s not true.
‘It is a lie from the pit of hell, and no one will divide us on religious lines. We are fighting the terrorists as one, both Christians and Muslims.’
The Minister further stressed that Nigeria is a powerful nation capable of fighting its challenges without necessarily the help of the Americans, accusing Bill Maher of having an underlying motive behind his claims.