Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar has insisted that Nigeria continues to bear the security costs of Muammar Gaddafi’s ousting and death in Libya, citing the proliferation of weapons into West Africa as one of the lasting consequences. In an appearance on the “Piers Morgan Uncensored” programme, Tuggar argued that arms from Libya have significantly fueled instability especially in regions already grappling with insurgency and criminality.
Tuggar also disputed widely circulated claims — dating back to 2009 — that 50,000–100,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria, or that 18,000 churches have been destroyed. He described those figures as “completely and totally inaccurate,” stressing that they misrepresent Nigeria’s multifaceted security challenges. According to him, the narrative of mass religious persecution simplifies a far more complex reality involving banditry, radical extremism, and regional power vacuums.
He used his platform to call for deeper international cooperation particularly through ECOWAS and other regional bodies to curb arms flows, strengthen border security, and support local governments in building resilient civil institutions.
