The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of betraying President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and tarnishing the country’s image abroad following the United States’ decision to redesignate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged killings of Christians.
In a statement issued on Saturday, November 1, 2025, by its Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, MURIC condemned what it described as CAN’s “disloyalty” and “ingratitude”, alleging that some Christian leaders had petitioned the U.S. government with false claims of religious persecution.
“Despite the Nigerian government’s firm denial of any Christian genocide, U.S. President Donald Trump has gone ahead to place Nigeria back on the list of countries of concern,” Akintola said. “This redesignation is blurred, misplaced, and distorted – a total misrepresentation of the true situation in Nigeria”.
MURIC accused CAN of amplifying these allegations instead of refuting them. “Certain Christian leaders had written frivolous petitions to the U.S. Congress claiming Christians were the only ones being killed by terrorists. Rather than debunk these false narratives, CAN simply echoed them”, the statement added.
The Islamic rights group argued that President Tinubu had shown exceptional goodwill toward Christians through appointments and privileges. “The President himself confirmed that 62 percent of all federal appointments went to Christians. The First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu, was even more generous than Father Christmas”, Akintola said.
Calling CAN’s alleged actions “a stab in the back”, MURIC described the development as “the Mother of all Betrayals”. The group said Tinubu did not deserve such treatment after his efforts to promote inclusion and balance in governance.
“Instead of standing by a President who has been fair to all, these Christian leaders chose to feed foreign powers with misleading information”, MURIC lamented, accusing them of aiding a decision “engineered by those enabling the Gaza genocide”.
The group maintained that while the U.S. may have its own foreign policy motives, “some Nigerians, unfortunately, played a key role by supplying distorted narratives to American authorities”.
