A heated clash unfolded on Piers Morgan’s programme as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and former Canadian legislator Goldie Ghamari engaged in a fierce debate over accusations of widespread persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

The episode, which aired on Tuesday, featured Tuggar countering the allegations, disputing the statistics and outlining the nation’s broader security challenges.

In the opening segment, Morgan referenced figures from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), claiming that over 50,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria since 2009 and 18,000 churches destroyed.

Tuggar dismissed the numbers as inaccurate, stressing that the government does not record deaths based on religious affiliation and that all victims are regarded simply as Nigerians.

When the host demanded official data, the minister stated that only 177 Christians had been killed and 102 churches attacked within the last five years.

The exchange grew more intense when Morgan brought Ghamari into the conversation.

The former Canadian politician stated that Nigeria’s security crisis amounts to jihad, even linking it to the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel. She also referenced the Muslim identities of President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima as “evidence” of an enabling Islamist government.

“By the way, this is a government that is working closely behind the scenes with the Islamic Republic of Iran. You should ask the foreign minister why Nigerian school children are holding pictures of the Ayatollah who is a brutal dictator and is murdering my people in Iran,” she alleged, insisting that “people need to look into the linkages between the current Nigerian government and the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

She further declared: “I was a politician for seven years, Piers, and I can tell when someone is lying and avoiding the truth. That’s exactly what this foreign minister is doing and shame on him for lying.”

Tuggar fired back, calling her remarks uninformed and dismissing her assertions as hollow rhetoric. He accused the ex-MP of trivialising the lives of Nigerians from afar.

Responding to her claims about Tinubu and Shettima’s religion, the minister outlined that Nigerians prioritise geopolitical balance over faith, pointing out that the president is from the south while the vice-president is from the north.

When Morgan asked if he condemned attacks on Christians by Islamist extremists, Tuggar said he did — and shared a personal tragedy.

“I lost my father-in-law to an attack by an Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, so I myself I’m a victim. I’ve lost family members to attacks and they were Muslims,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter whether they’re Muslim or Christian… the number one enemy of Boko Haram is not a Christian. It is a Muslim who does not subscribe to their own brand of Islam.”

Morgan then sought Ghamari’s reaction. She argued that the targeting of Muslims does not “negate the fact that there is a targeted ethnic cleansing of Christians in Nigeria”.

Tuggar responded sharply, accusing her of inflaming conflicts from the comfort of another continent.

“People like her trade in starting wars in far away places where they have no contact, they have no understanding of, and they can do that from their armchairs,” he said. He went on to argue that she did not understand Nigeria’s ethnic landscape and accused her of fuelling disunity “the same way they broke up Sudan”.

He continued, saying such actors “don’t care about freedoms” and are attempting to fracture Nigeria because it is Africa’s largest democracy and a regional stabiliser.

“It’s not going to happen to Nigeria. Move on to your next project. You’re a disgrace. You’re a disgrace to the Canadian nation,” he stated.