Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, engaged in a heated argument with former Canadian member of parliament, Goldie Ghamari, on Piers Morgan Uncensored, after she accused the Nigerian government of enabling what she described as a “Jihad” against Christians and “lying” about the scale of killings in the country.
Tuggar dismissed her comments as ignorant, dangerous, and deliberately inflammatory.
Ghamari alleged that attacks attributed to Boko Haram, ISWAP, and bandit groups amounted to an organised religious war against Christians in Nigeria — a claim widely circulated by conservative groups abroad.
“If it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck, it’s probably a duck,” she said.
“There’s a reason we’re seeing militants going about and chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’. There’s a reason they attack Christians on Christmas Eve.”
She referenced the 2014 abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, saying many of their whereabouts remain unknown, and compared Nigeria’s situation to conflicts in Israel, Persia and historic religious persecutions.
Ghamari also alleged that Nigeria’s current political leadership, a Muslim president and vice president, lacked Christian representation.
“What is happening in Nigeria is Jihad,” she said. “The Nigerian government is complacent… he is avoiding eye contact, shame on the foreign minister for lying.”
Tuggar, visibly irritated, pushed back forcefully. “With all due respect to the lady, she has exposed her ignorance about Nigeria,” he said.
“It is easy for her to sit thousands of miles away and play games with people’s lives.”
At this point, Ghamari intervened, accusing the minister of being responsible for the inaction.
“I am not the one playing games with people’s lives, you are.”
Tuggar objected to the interruption.
“Please don’t interrupt me. I didn’t interrupt you,” he said.
“Go and read my constitution. Section 10 has federal character, and we don’t identify Nigerians by religion. Only 177 Christians have been killed over the past five years.”
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Host Piers Morgan intervened, noting that the minister had earlier claimed he did not have precise numbers.
“With all due respect, foreign minister, you told me before that you didn’t know the number of Christians killed — so which is it?”
Tuggar clarified that the government’s figures were available but not categorised by religion.
“I keep giving you the numbers — 177 killed, 98 injured, seven abducted. We are not hiding anything,” he said.
He added that he had personally lost his father-in-law and other relatives during an Islamic terrorist attack.
“The number one enemy of Boko Haram is not a Christian — it is a Muslim who does not subscribe to their brand of Islam,” he said.
Ghamari alleged that the Nigerian Army receives orders to allow Fulani militants to pass through communities during attacks, accusing Tuggar of “avoiding eye contact” and being “wilfully ignorant.”
“How can he not know the number of Christians killed?” she asked.
“I am not denying that there is Christian genocide, but he is. Shame on you.”
In a fiery rebuttal, Tuggar accused Ghamari of profiting from fear-mongering.
“This lady is getting paid for this,” he said. “People like her thrive on breaking up countries and causing wars.”
“You are a disgrace to the Canadian nation,” he said.
He added, “I’m surprised you were ever a politician in Canada. Move on and leave us alone.”
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