Shehu Sani Debunks Bill Maher’s ‘Christian Genocide’ Claim on Nigerian Insecurity, Insists Violence Is Result of General Banditry and Terrorism

Former Nigerian Senator, Shehu Sani, has publicly countered the narrative put forth by American political commentator Bill Maher, who had described the persistent killings in Nigeria as a calculated “Christian genocide.”

Sani took to his social media platform to address the controversial statements made by Maher on his popular HBO talk show, Real Time with Bill Maher, which had drawn significant international attention to Nigeria’s insecurity crisis.

In his rebuttal, the former lawmaker from Kaduna Central asserted that framing the violence as a religious genocide oversimplifies a much more complex national security challenge. Sani stressed that the widespread killings and acts of violence are not exclusively targeted at Christians, but are the devastating result of indiscriminate banditry, terrorism, and pervasive insecurity that plague all communities across Nigeria.

“The killings in Nigeria are a tragic consequence of unchecked banditry and terrorism that affect both Muslims and Christians,” Sani stated. “To label the crisis as strictly a ‘Christian genocide’ is to ignore the complex criminality and insurgency that has victimized citizens across all faiths and ethnic groups, and to provide a misleading picture of the security realities on the ground.”

Sani’s intervention highlights the ongoing internal debate about the true nature of Nigeria’s violence, advocating for a focus on the shared threat of criminality rather than a divisive religious narrative. His comments serve as a corrective measure to the international perspective, urging stakeholders to acknowledge that the primary challenge is national security breakdown, which does not spare any demographic.