By MIKE ODEH JAMES

International human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe has insisted that Nigeria’s mass killings carry a clear religious dimension, arguing that attacks accompanied by cries of “God is great” in Arabic cannot be dismissed as mere communal disputes.

Speaking recently on Arise News Prime Time, Ogebe said the pattern of violence in the Middle Belt and across northern Nigeria shows deliberate and targeted assaults on communities identified by faith.

“There’s no doubt that there is collateral damage. But the fact of the matter is, in the US a couple of weeks ago, a National Guardswoman was shot in the head by a guy screaming ‘God is great’ in Arabic. The people who killed Alice’s family were screaming, ‘God is great’. You cannot look at both situations and say religion was not a factor,” he said.

He added that the attacks follow distinct and predictable trends. “These folks are very systematic because they look at the communities that they are certain fall within a certain identity and they target them,” Ogebe stated.

Responding to United States President Donald Trump’s renewed designation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ for alleged Christian persecution, Ogebe maintained that the decision was both justified and long overdue. “The designation is justified and has been justified for many years. The commission that made the recommendation began making recommendations, I think, in 2009. For about 15 years, they’ve been recommending, and it’s only happened twice,” he said.

He recalled the 2000 Sharia riots as a missed turning point. “By the year 2000, we had the Shariah riots in northern Nigeria that killed 3,000 Christians across four states. At that time, they should have recommended Nigeria for designation,” he said.

Reflecting on years of documenting atrocities, Ogebe described the scale of killings as overwhelming. “It’s very depressing work. None of us would have anticipated that Nigerians would be dying in droves like they are now,” he noted.

He referenced recent incidents to illustrate the scale. “On 13 June, there was a massacre in Yelwata. The number of people killed that night — 278 — was more than the people killed in the war between Iran and Israel, in which missiles and aeroplanes were used,” he said.

He also mentioned Plateau State. “That same night, 54 people were slaughtered in ZK, Plateau State… That is what genocide looks like.”

Rejecting arguments that the violence is mainly about land, Ogebe said ideology is central. “The message is, let’s go and take out the infidels. So from the very beginning, there’s a religious connotation,” he said.

He narrated an encounter involving a Fulani herdsman working for a judge’s spouse: “One day, he came back and said, ‘I nearly killed an idiot infidel today.’ We are saying that judicial officers are frustrated because of the impunity of these people.”

Ogebe also cited statements attributed to Boko Haram’s founder. “Mohammed Yusuf preached, and he said, ‘Listen, you are wiping out the infidels.’ He said Yar’Adua flew me on a presidential jet and begged me to stop killing the infidels, and I’m not going to do it,” he said.

Speaking on allegations against Fulani ethnic militias, he highlighted the brutality of attacks. “One of their hallmarks is, If they meet a pregnant woman on the farm, they will slaughter her, pull out the foetus and butcher it. It doesn’t get more graphic than that,” he said.

He added that widespread displacement has followed. “There are over 300 communities in the Middle Belt now that have been sacked and are occupied by Fulani ethnic militias. And I can’t point to one Fulani village that has been occupied,” he stated.

Rejecting the framing of the crisis as farmer–herder clashes, Ogebe said the victims make that claim impossible. “When you come into a community, and you kill a three-year-old and a four-year-old, a three-year-old cannot clash with you. These are invaders who are coming in and wiping out people on their ancestral lands. It’s not a clash,” he said.

Ogebe disclosed that the International Criminal Court’s work on Nigeria had gone far. “After they investigated, they finally indicted not only Boko Haram but the Nigerian Army for atrocities. They have indictments as we speak. It is a lack of political will to proceed — that’s why it hasn’t happened,” he said.

He also commented on the current state of U.S.–Nigeria relations. “The US and Nigeria have had amazing historic relationships. But right now we’re at a point where there’s a real drift,” he said. According to him, Washington may take a firmer stance: “They’re at a point where they’re saying, ‘if you will not protect your own people from being killed, we’ll go ahead and do it ourselves’.”

The Full interview is available here https://youtu.be/Cmw_vT7RF2k

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