China has declared its unwavering support for the Nigerian government, saying it stands by Nigeria as it “leads its people on the development path suited to its national conditions.”
This position was announced at a press conference on Tuesday, by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning.
The Chinese minister was quoted by TheCable as saying: “As Nigeria’s comprehensive strategic partner, China firmly opposes any country using religion and human rights as an excuse to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, and threatening other countries with sanctions and force”.
Ning was answering a question on US President Donald Trump’s threat of military action in Nigeria over alleged persecution of Christians.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government had also told President Donald Trump to respect Nigeria’s sovereignty and stay away from any plans to deploy American troops to its territory.
Daniel Bwala, an aide to President Bola Tinubu, stated this on Monday while appearing on Russia National TV.
Bwala dismissed the allegations as part of an orchestrated media campaign to paint the Tinubu administration as anti-Christian, saying independent global monitors and credible civil society organizations have found no evidence of state-backed religious genocide.
He had said: “We try our best to downplay the rhetoric because we know for sure that that can be the reflection of the realities on ground.”
He further alleged that U.S. senators such as Ted Cruz had been misled by IPOB sympathisers seeking to influence Washington’s foreign policy.
He continued: “The decision of President Trump is anchored on the various tweets and pushes by congressmen. And the congressmen rely on a data and report that were submitted by a separatist group in Nigeria called the IPOB, that there’s a genocide of Christians in Nigeria, which is false because all intelligence and non-governmental organizations that carry out research and data about killings in Nigeria, none but these two that have affiliation with IPOB that indicated that there is a Christian genocide. In fact, even the content of the data contradict that.
“I quite agree and let me tell you further. In fact, there is this investigative report that was conducted two weeks ago in Nigeria that suggested that that hoax, that narrative was amplified by the separatist group called the IPOB. Since 2016 that there is a Christian genocide and that the genocide is against them because they have a Jewish tradition. But the amplification now affected the people of the right wing of the Republican Party in the United States, which was pushed by Senator Ted Cruz and followed by Riley. These are senators who have lost the favor with the Baga base because they were considered, are still considered as people that have pandered so much to the AIPAC and the AIPAC agenda.
“So they are trying to reinvent themselves. That is why they now found a good distraction in Nigeria. That’s what the reports are saying.
“But we as a country, we try to be responsible enough to focus on the solution and not the problem. And our point is this, there have been killings in Nigeria because of the exceptional situation that we found ourselves. Our government has made massive progress in the fight against insecurity.
“And we’re calling on Donald Trump to assist us with military apparatus that is requisite for us to fight insecurity. We do not need the boots of the American soldiers in our soil. There has to be a respect of our territorial integrity.”
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