The president rejected the narrative while speaking at the inauguration of projects and the launch of Governor Hope Uzodimma’s book in Imo State on Tuesday.

He said, “They lie all over the place that we have religious persecution. Our Muslim brothers and sisters, our Christian brothers and sisters are united. No religious persecution in Nigeria, it is a lie from the pit of hell.”

President Tinubu’s remark on the alleged genocide against Christians in Nigeria came after Bill Maher, an American comedian, political commentator, accused Nigeria of killing its Christian population.

Maher also alleged that Nigerian media do not cover the killings of Christians.

He said, “If you don’t know what’s going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck. You are in a bubble.

“I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over a hundred thousand since 2009. They’ve burned 18,000 churches. These are the Islamists, Boko Haram.

This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza. They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, had, in a statement debunked Maher’s claim, saying Nigeria’s security challenges should not be portrayed as a targeted campaign against a single religious group.