Christian genocide: Soyinka breaks silence on Trump’s allegation

The Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has broken his silence on the allegation of a Christian genocide in Nigeria made by US President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Democracy Now, Soyinka said Trump’s sweeping statements distort the true picture of the conflict and risk deepening religious hostilities.

The literary icon stated that the situation should not be seen as a war between Christians and Muslims, but as a struggle against extremist groups that have weaponised religion for political and economic gain.

“We must separate Nigeria’s long-standing internal problems from President Trump’s recent response.
“The Christian–Islam, or Islam-versus-the-rest kind of dichotomy has existed for decades. It became truly horrendous when politics got mixed up with religious differences,” he said.

The nonagenarian further explained that political leaders had exploited religion for power and failed to hold extremists accountable, which allowed impunity to thrive.