Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has stated that Christians are being victimised in some parts of northern Nigeria, while noting that the situation varies from state to state.
Dogara made the remarks on Sunday during an appearance on Politics Today, a programme aired on Channels Television, where he responded to questions on allegations of religious discrimination against Christians in the region.
According to the former Speaker, several North-Central states such as Plateau, Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa do not suppress or marginalise Christians, stressing that residents from those states cannot claim that their voices have been silenced.
However, he acknowledged that religious-related challenges still exist in some areas of the North, describing the issue of Christian victimisation as complex and dependent on specific state realities.
Dogara explained that while Christians are able to practise their faith freely without discrimination in certain states, there are “pockets of problems” in other parts of the region that require deliberate attention.
He emphasised that addressing these challenges would require collaboration between Christians and Muslims who are committed to peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding.
“Think in some parts of northern Nigeria, yes,” Dogara said. “But there are parts, such as Plateau, Benue, to some extent Taraba and Nasarawa states, where you cannot claim that your voice has been silenced.”
On the broader question of whether Christians are being victimised across Nigeria, Dogara said the issue could not be answered in absolute terms.
“That is a very difficult question to answer because it is on a state-by-state basis. There are states where, as a Christian, you do not have any problem. But from the feedback available to us, there are pockets of problems in certain parts of the North that we must address,” he said, adding that collective efforts by people of both faiths would be key to resolving such concerns.
