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Senior Adviser to United States President Donald Trump on Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, has dismissed claims of a Christian genocide in Nigeria.
Boulos made the remarks during a visit to President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on Friday.
According to him, those familiar with Nigeria’s realities understand that terrorism “has no colour, no religion, and no tribe.”
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“People of all religions and all tribes are dying as a result of terrorist acts, but it’s very unfortunate.“We even know that Boko Haram and ISIS are killing more Muslims than Christians. People are suffering from all sorts of backgrounds. This is not specifically targeted about one group or the other.
“However, any loss of life is one too many, and we should work together in partnership to put an end to this,” he said.
He further explained that Nigeria’s Middle Belt has experienced deadly clashes between farmers and herders, noting that many of the farmer casualties have been Christians.
The US envoy described Nigeria as a melting pot of diverse ethnic and religious groups, with an almost even split between Christians and Muslims.
In other news, President Donald Trump is redoubling his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, announcing a second meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin one day before sitting down with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
Trump’s announcement came shortly after finishing a call with Putin on Thursday. A date has not been set, but Trump said the meeting would take place in Budapest, Hungary. He later told reporters that he envisions the meeting happening in two weeks or so, and that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will host.
“I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” Trump wrote on social media. The two leaders previously met in Alaska in August, which did not produce a diplomatic breakthrough, a source of frustration for the U.S. leader who had expected that his longstanding relationship with Putin could pave the way to resolving a conflict that began nearly four years ago.
