A Catholic priest, Fr. Aniedi Okure, has faulted the infusion of economic issues in the debate over the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

Okure, who has served the Vatican in the US, spoke to Channels Television while reacting to the report submitted by the United States House Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Affairs to the White House outlining their findings and recommendations on the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

He maintained that there had been Christian persecutions, despite the divergent views.

The submission of the report followed President Donald Trump’s decision to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

The president subsequently directed Congressman Riley Moore and Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Tom Cole, to lead a comprehensive investigation into the reported persecution of Christian communities by terrorists, as well as the broader security challenges confronting Nigeria.

The report includes a recommendation promoting a bilateral agreement between the US and Nigeria to “protect vulnerable Christian communities from violent persecution, eliminate jihadist terror activity in the region, further economic cooperation, and counter adversaries in the region, including the Chinese Communist Party and Russian Federation”.

But the President Bola Tinubu administration faulted the position of the US Congress on “the persecution” of Christians.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said that “Nigeria does not have, and has never had, a state policy of religious persecution”.

He said, the violence being confronted by our security agencies was not driven by government policy or religious bias, “but by complex security threats, including terrorism, organised criminality, and longstanding communal tensions”. (Channels TV)