Nigerians are divided over the assassination of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

While some, particularly pastors and gospel singers, praised the outspoken commentator for his courage and convictions, others described him as a symbol of divisive politics for his views on religion, race, and society.

The American right-wing political activist was shot dead on September 10 while addressing an audience on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

The event was the first stop of the season for his American comeback tour, a speaking debate series planned by Turning Point USA, a conservative organisation he co-founded.

Thirty-one-year-old Kirk was shot in the neck by a gunman, identified as Tyler Robinson, while engaging with the audience on the issue of mass shootings in the US.

Kirk often drew controversy over his radical views on race, religion and politics.

In one of his debate videos online, he was heard saying, “I’m sorry if I see a black pilot, I’m gonna be like, boy, I hope he is qualified.”

In another video, he described Islam, Marxism, and “wokeism” as threats to Christianity and Western civilisation, urging the church to “stand and rise” against them.

“The spiritual battle is coming to the West, and the enemies are wokeism or Marxism, combining with Islamism to go after what we call the American way of life.”

Reacting to his assassination, gospel singer Nathaniel Bassey described his death as painful.

Bassey, in a post on Instagram which was accompanied by Kirk’s picture, wrote, “Pained. Rest in the Lord, Charlie Kirk.”

Another gospel singer, Victoria Orenze, in a lengthy post on Instagram, described Kirk as a “true soldier of Christ” whose death only strengthens the Christian mission.

Orenze called on Christians to take Kirk’s death as a reminder that “we are clearly in the last days.”

She wrote, “Truth cannot be killed! Truth cannot be silenced! Truth cannot be stopped.

“Charlie Kirk, a true soldier of Christ, is with the truth (Jesus Christ)! What glory! Satan, for every time you try to raise an army, rise instead! We are not afraid!”

Also reacting, Pastor Blessed Uzochikwa, the husband of popular gospel singer Mercy Chinwo, praised Kirk as a man of “conviction, courage, and dignity who never wavered in his beliefs, regardless of opposition.”

Uzochikwa described Kirk’s killing as “gruesome and heartbreaking,” adding that no one deserved to die in such a cruel way.

“One thing I truly admire about Charlie Kirk is his clarity of convictions. Whether you agree with him or not, he never wavers; he boldly stands for what he believes in. That kind of courage is rare and worth honouring. RIP,” he said.

But other Nigerians accused the Christian leaders who eulogised Kirk of hypocrisy, arguing that the same energy was rarely shown to victims of violence and persecution in their home country.

They questioned why church leaders would celebrate Kirk, who they accused of promoting racism and division, while they stayed silent on the plight of ordinary Nigerians who were killed in attacks by bandits and terrorists.

A British-Nigerian and president-elect of the Oxford Union, George Abaraonye, stirred controversy for celebrating Kirk’s death.

Abaraonye reportedly posted messages on social media mocking Kirk’s death.

“Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f*cking go,” Abaraonye said in a post, which he later deleted.

But Oxford Union officials condemned his comments, stating that they do not represent their views and oppose political violence.

A TikTok user, Onyinyechi Blossom, in a video, described the celebration of Kirk as an endorsement of violence and misogyny.

She said, “As long as you wake up one day and say you are a Christian, Christians will support you, especially if you are white, because they love proximity to whiteness, they love the colonisers.

“So, regardless of what you do, if you like to be a murderer, or an evil person or a rapist or endorse killing of people, they don’t care as long as you open your mouth and say you are a Christian, they will endorse you.”

Writer and literary critic Ikhide Ikheloa, in a post on X on Thursday, described Kirk as the loudest product of white American privilege.

He also labelled him a “bigot” who profited from shallow personal opinions that hurt people who did not look like him.

“A college dropout, he (Kirk) was not educated enough to be a conservative; he was merely a dangerous, glib right-winger. He openly derided black professionals like doctors and pilots and loudly believed that black people were genetically defective, certainly inferior to white folks.

“This young man believed black people like me were better and better behaved under slavery. Wow. Okay. Charlie Kirk did not deserve to die, despite his bigoted self. He was somebody and somebody’s child.

“In the world that I dream of, there should be no place for violence, no shelf for guns, no guns. Charlie Kirk died by a gun, died advocating for the right of (white) folks to have guns and to use them. He died hating people who looked like me. America produced the mobster in him; America produced this monster.

“America should stop producing these kinds of children. I don’t believe he was born hating; he was raised hating. My heart truly goes out to his family, may he rest,” Ikheloa said.

An X user, Ourfaveonlinedoc, criticised what he described as misplaced priorities by some Nigerian pastors, whom he accused of seeking validation from the Western world.

He said, “Many Nigerian pastors kept silent about the slaughter of Nigerian Christians by terrorists and religious extremists in the north, but somehow you found your Twitter login to post about Charlie Kirk.

“I’m not saying you can’t write about Charlie Kirk, and to me, the killing of CK is absolutely condemnable and totally unacceptable; but it reeks of hypocrisy and detestable sanctimony that some of you Nigerian pastors will look away at the barbaric massacres of your own fellow Christians in your own country but you have deep tears for a man in a far away land who most likely has zero knowledge of your existence.”

Another X user, Kelviiisss said, “Watching Nigerian pastors send their condolences to Charlie Kirk’s family, but keep quiet when a lot of Nigerian Christians, children, women and men are killed every day in the hands of herdsmen is another level of insanity and hypocrisy.”