Critics Warn Language Obscures Violence, Placates Fulani Terrorists
By Mary Kiara
(Lagos) — The phrase “prodigal sons” – stemming from the New Testament parable – is emerging as the meme of choice by officials in Abuja circling the wagons around embarrassing news about terrorism.
By all accounts the root causes of Nigeria’s complex conflict are shrouded in fog of war. But the solid consensus of the security officials surrounding President Bola Tinubu is that loss of Christian lives has nothing to do with a war on Christians. Not ever!
“Even in the Bible, we heard about the prodigal son,” General Olufemi Oluyede, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, said at a military lecture in Abuja.
“It is important for us to give them that window to repent, rather than pushing them to the extreme” Oluyede said.
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, who hails from the Fulani tribe often referenced in massacre reports, echoed a similar theme.
“Whether we like it or not, there are terrorists in Nigeria who want peace. They are our brothers,” Ribadu said in remarks.
At the same time, Information Minister Mohammed Idris rejected international characterizations of the violence.
“We completely reject the circulating claims of Christian genocide in Nigeria,” according to Idris.
Together, the remarks reflect a government narrative that emphasizes rehabilitation over accurate diagnosis and holding perpetrators accountable.
The language highlights a widening gap between official narratives and the documented pattern of attacks on sleeping villages across Nigeria’s Middle Belt and mass kidnappings of Christians in their churches on Sunday mornings.
Violence on the Ground
The statements come as attacks continue across multiple regions of Nigeria.
On March 29, 2026, a Palm Sunday attack in Jos, a major city in central Nigeria, left at least 28 people dead. The attack followed a similar Palm Sunday massacre in 2025 in which at least 54 Christians were killed near the same city.
Across Nigeria, terrorist groups have carried out raids on villages, churches, and highways for more than a decade.
According to United Nations estimates, insurgent violence has been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths since 2009.
“They Have Declared War”
Church leaders say the government’s language risks minimizing the scale and intent of the violence.
Bishop Jude Arogundade of Ondo Diocese criticized the government’s position, describing it as “saddening.”
“They have practically declared war against Nigeria and its government and all the law-abiding citizens of this country,” Arogundade told journalists at a press conference.
“And you call them prodigal sons? The prodigal son in the Bible didn’t kill his father, nor did he kill his brother,” he said.
“We lost 41 people here in my diocese, and those who killed them are prodigal sons?” he asked rhetorically.
A Break in Elite Silence
Religious and civil society leaders, many of whom avoided direct confrontation with officials in the past, are speaking up.
“The killing of Christians in the North is not merely communal, but a targeted, systemic attempt to destroy a specific group,” Rev. Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Northern states, told TruthNigeria.
“It is a genocidal attack,” Hayab said.
Human-rights lawyer Femi Falana also warned that failure to act decisively risks enabling further violence.
“Farmers are murdered on their lands, worshippers killed, and communities destroyed, not because the government lacks knowledge, but because negligence allows perpetrators to roam free,” Falana said in a statement.
“Every village sacked, every child abducted is a failure of the Nigerian state,” he added.
American Human Rights Advocate Weighs in
“The use of the parable of the Prodigal Son in relation to Fulani jihadists attempting to eradicate Christian communities is not only inappropriate and deceitful, but also extremely offensive to Christians being slaughtered in Nigeria,” said McDonnell, director of advocacy for Katartismos Global and co-leader of the Global Anglican Future Suffering Church Network to TruthNigeria.
“It is the latest adaptation by apologists to downplay genocide and stifle the voices of victims with fake moral equivalence,” McDonnell went on to say.
McDonnell tells TruthNigeria she has been working in advocacy for persecuted Nigerian Christians since 1995.
“In recent years, we’ve heard that climate change is affecting poor herders. Somehow this climate change that causes them to take over Christians’ farms and kill farmers and their families does not have the same result with other herder communities, such as the Masai in Kenya.”
“Now we have dedicated genocidal jihadists as prodigal sons!” McDonnell wrote in a text. “General Oluyede may have heard about the Prodigal Son, but his application shows that he does not understand the story at all.
“As told by Jesus, the Prodigal, who left his home and dishonored his father — but never killed anyone — came to himself and realized on his own that he had sinned against Heaven and against God. He came home fully repentant and in great humility, ready to be treated as the least servant of the house.
“There’s no contrition or repentance, and certainly no humility on the part of jihadists who continue to kill Christians. I hope and pray that the U.S. Administration will decry the use of a story from the Gospel of Christ being used to find more excuses for those who kill His people, and that President Trump will put more pressure on the Nigerian Government to stop genocide and provide accountability and support to Christians in Nigeria,” McDonnell wrote.
Beyond Nigeria: A Familiar Pattern
Analysts note that disputes over how violence is described have shaped international responses in past conflicts.
In the Balkans during the 1990s and in Sudan in the early 2000s, early language influenced whether foreign governments treated violence as local unrest or systematic targeting.
Church leaders and policy advocates warn similar dynamics may be unfolding in Nigeria.
Mary Kiara reports on terrorism and religious-freedom policy for TruthNigeria.