(MENAFN) Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar has refuted US President Donald Trump’s statements regarding the killing of Christians in Nigeria, cautioning against any language that could encourage the division of the nation along religious or ethnic lines.

At a news conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Tuggar presented a document titled “Nigeria’s Constitutional Commitment to Religious Freedom and Rule of Law”, highlighting that it specifies the nation’s legal stance on religious liberty.

“This is what shows it’s impossible for there to be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level,” he asserted during a joint briefing with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.

Trump recently labeled Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, suggesting possible interventions to “protect” Christians.

He claimed that “record numbers” of Christians are being killed in Africa’s most populous country.

This declaration followed a petition to the Trump administration from US Congressman Riley Moore, who contended that over 7,000 Christians have been slain in Nigeria this year alone, with hundreds more kidnapped, tortured, or displaced by extremist factions.

Senator Ted Cruz also accused the Nigerian authorities of facilitating a “massacre” against Christians and introduced legislation he said “would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools.”

Cruz further asserted that 50,000 Christians have died in Nigeria since 2009, with 2,000 schools and 18,000 churches destroyed by “Islamist jihadists.”

Nigerian authorities have recognized the country’s security difficulties, which are linked to groups including Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province.

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