The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has warned religious leaders against presenting Nigeria’s security challenges as a religious war, cautioning that inflammatory narratives could undermine national unity ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Idris delivered the warning on Wednesday morning while presenting a keynote address at the grand finale of the 2026 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and the International Communion of Charismatic Archbishops, Bishops and Apostles (ICCABA), held at the National Christian Centre in Abuja.
Addressing the gathering of faith leaders, the minister emphasized that terrorists and criminal groups operate indiscriminately, attacking citizens across ethnic and religious lines. He noted that misrepresenting violent crimes as targeted religious warfare plays into the hands of insurgents whose primary objective is to create panic and fracture national cohesion. ”Nigeria’s Constitution guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
At the same time, we should not allow our security challenges to be wrongly presented as a religious war. Terrorists and criminal groups have attacked Nigerians of different faiths, and their goal is to undermine our unity. No election should be allowed to turn Christian against Muslim, North against South, or one ethnic group against another,” Idris stated.
Highlighting the administration’s security record under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Idris disclosed that security agencies eliminated roughly 1,000 terrorist elements in the first quarter of 2026 and recently coordinated the rescue of 308 abducted citizens across Niger and Kwara states.
Speaking on behalf of President Tinubu at the event, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, called for sustained collaboration between the Church and the Federal Government in peacebuilding, youth empowerment, and civic education.
With political activities expected to heighten ahead of the 2027 polls, Idris urged clerics to keep their pulpits focused on truth, responsible citizenship, and peace rather than political division or hate speech.
