October 17, 2025
WHAT began as an effort by Reno Omokri to counter growing international claims of genocide against Christians in Nigeria took an unexpected turn on Tuesday, October 14, when a U.S. delegation he helped to invite presented findings that directly contradicted his position.
Mike Arnold, a former mayor of Blanco, Texas, and founder of Africa Arise International and Africa Arise USA, arrived in Nigeria at the invitation of Omokri and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. Omokri, a former presidential aide and social commentator, had reportedly encouraged the fact-finding mission in order to reinforce his long-held view that there was no religious genocide in Nigeria, only general insecurity affecting all citizens.
But at the press briefing held in Abuja, Arnold stunned Omokri and other attendees when he declared that after years of investigations and multiple field visits, the violence and displacement in northern and central Nigeria “indeed amount to genocide” targeted primarily at Christian populations.
“I was invited here by the National Security Adviser and by Mr. Reno Omokri to meet key people and declare the truth,” Arnold told the gathering. “I have done exactly that. The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable. What is happening in parts of this country meets every legal definition of genocide under international law.”
Arnold said his conclusion was based on over five years of field research, more than 80 hours of recorded testimonies, and visits to displaced persons camps across Borno, Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States. He revealed that his organisation had built schools for internally displaced children and documented patterns of attacks that consistently targeted Christian communities, while leaving mosques untouched.
He accused some Nigerian officials and commentators (without naming Omokri directly) of “deliberate obfuscation,” saying that labeling the violence as “farmer-herder clashes” or “banditry” was a calculated effort to hide the truth.
“This is not confusion, it is complicity,” Arnold said. “When leaders use sanitized language to disguise atrocities, they are aiding those who commit them. To call this anything less than genocide is to participate in the cover-up.”
Sources close to the planning of the event told journalists that Omokri had initially reached out to Arnold earlier in the year, hoping that the American’s findings would lend credibility to his own argument that there was no religious or ethnic genocide in Nigeria. Omokri has repeatedly said on social media and in interviews that the violence in Nigeria affects all faiths equally and that foreign narratives exaggerate the Christian death toll.
But Arnold’s detailed presentation painted a different picture—one that undermined Omokri’s claims. He provided photographic and video evidence of destroyed churches, occupied farmlands, and testimonies from survivors describing systematic attacks that specifically targeted Christian communities.
Arnold also refuted what he described as “Reno’s misleading statements” about the purpose of his visit. “Some people, including Omokri, have told the media that I came here to prove there is no genocide,” he said. “That is false. My assignment was to meet key people and declare the truth based on evidence. I am not here on anyone’s payroll, and I do not speak for any government. I came independently, and I stand by my findings.”
Tension rose briefly in the conference hall as Omokri attempted to respond, insisting that Arnold’s conclusions were “biased and politically motivated.” He argued that extremist violence in Nigeria had claimed both Muslim and Christian lives and that framing it as genocide could inflame tensions.
However, Arnold stood his ground, insisting that while all communities have suffered, the scale, pattern, and intent behind attacks on Christian populations in the North and Middle Belt cannot be ignored. “I have been to villages where every Christian home was burned, but the mosques were untouched,” he said. “That is not random violence. That is targeted extermination.”
The briefing, attended by journalists, international observers and human rights advocates, ended with visible discomfort among Omokri’s team. What was meant to be a validation of his narrative turned into a public repudiation, with Arnold’s findings now circulating among U.S. lawmakers, human rights organizations and faith-based groups for further action.
In his closing remarks, Arnold reaffirmed his respect for Nigeria and its people but urged honesty in confronting the crisis. “I believe in unity and peace between Christians and Muslims,” he said. “But peace can only begin when we stop denying the truth. Evil must first be named before it can be defeated.”
T.S