The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, on Saturday, slammed the remarks by Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi that Christians in the Middle Belt were staging funerals to fabricate genocide.

The PFN described Gumi’s comments as not only insensitive, irresponsible, but morally reprehensible.

Recall that Gumi had alleged that Christians in the Middle Belt were burying empty coffins to fabricate a narrative of genocide.

However, the Christian body, in a statement titled ‘Rebuttal of Ahmad Gumi’s false and dangerous claim’ by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Sylvanus Ukafia, said Gumi’s claim was baseless, inflammatory, and collapses under the slightest scrutiny.

The statement reads: “We strongly condemn the recent statement by Ahmad Gumi alleging that Christians in the Middle Belt are “burying empty coffins” to fabricate a narrative of genocide.

“This claim is baseless, inflammatory, and collapses under the slightest scrutiny.

“Across Nigerian cultures Christian, Muslim, and traditional — there is no practice of burying empty coffins.

“Funerals are communal, identity-based rites anchored on real names, real families, and real histories. The idea that entire communities are staging fake burials without a single whistleblower or inconsistency is not only illogical but deeply insulting.

“Gumi’s allegation rests entirely on an unnamed ‘doctor’ without any verifiable details: no name, no location, no evidence, no photos, no timestamps. This is hearsay masquerading as fact.”