Founder of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, has expressed deep concern over Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, describing the situation as a “five-headed serpent” that the Federal Government has failed to subdue after more than 15 years.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of his upcoming Chris Compassion to the Rural World crusade, Ashimolowo addressed what he sees as alarming patterns of violence targeting Christian communities in different parts of the country. He argued that many of the attacks fit the definition of genocide, which he described as the deliberate persecution or killing of a group of people.

Drawing from his personal experiences, the cleric recalled growing up in Zaria, where he witnessed the infamous riots of the 1960s. He said the violence was so brutal that people were killed simply because of their ethnic identity.

“I was there during the Zaria riots when your crime was that you were Igbo. They didn’t tell me. I saw it. People were being killed right before my eyes,” he recounted.
“People were dragged out of their homes and slaughtered. That was genocide.”

Ashimolowo also commented on the longstanding crises in Southern Kaduna, where he said Christians were attacked, dispossessed of their land, and murdered due to ethnic and religious differences.

He recalled the killing of Deborah Samuel, a Sokoto student lynched over alleged blasphemy, pointing out that several lawyers publicly defended her killers.