Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, the senior pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre, has asked why the same Nigeria that ended the Biafra war in two and a half years cannot end insecurity in 15 years.

According to him, this indicates that a sponsor is behind the insecurity plaguing the country.

Ashimolowo said this during a press briefing in which he decried the genocide against Christians in Nigeria.

He said, "My dad died in the Nigerian civil war, Biafra. But guess what. Despite the intensity of that terrible war that fragmented Nigeria and hurt a particular people of a particular section of the nation, Biafra ended in two and a half years. How come you cannot end terror in 15?

"My mother used to say, 'If a child is throwing stones and throwing stones, and the stones do not end, there is a supplier'. Despite the civil war ending decades ago, terror continues every day. Why can’t it end? Somebody somewhere does not want us to face reality. We cannot say there is no genocide. But if you say there is none, answer my questions.”

The cleric also revealed that the cry of genocide didn't start today, recalling that he witnessed ethnic killings as early as the 60s.

He said, “I was born in 1952 in Zaria. I grew up in Kaduna. The first riot I ever experienced was against people from the East. They didn’t tell me. I saw it. People were being killed right before my eyes. Soldiers tried to prevent it, but the killings continued as attackers marched through the streets shouting: ‘Tawai,’ meaning: ‘Our eyes are opened.’”

Speaking further, Ashimolowo wondered why no judicial response has been set up concerning the numerous attacks on Christian communities.

“The same people who committed these crimes, you said you forgave them. Who forgave them? Where were they forgiven? Which court of law did that? How can a man who killed and raped now be brought into the military or the Air Force? How can such a person defend the Federal Republic of Nigeria?” He queried.

Ashimolowo also recounted visiting Maiduguri in 1987, where he said churches were confined to one section of the city, with many burnt down.

“Are there two Nigerians? How come that in one Nigeria, churches cannot operate and people can be hacked? Is there genocide? I didn’t say there is. You will have to answer whether there is genocide or not.”