Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Federal Government of Nigeria has warned religious leaders against incendiary messages that could cause religious war in the country. The government deemed allegations of Islamization of Nigeria and persecution of Christians as fallacies and emphasized that conflicts between Muslims and Christians are often fueled by political motivation, ethnic differences, extremism, intolerance, and terrorism. The government also dismissed the accusation that the military was arming Fulani herdsmen to kill Christians as ridiculous. Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed stated that the government was concerned about the incendiary messages sent by religious, political, and opinion leaders. He criticized the media for insinuating that the government was either out to Islamize Nigeria or persecute Christians. The government believes that some comments by religious leaders had political connotations and that conflicts between Muslims and Christians are often fuelled by political motivations, ethnic differences, extremism, intolerance, and terrorism.