Human rights lawyer and activist Dele Farotimi has strongly criticised the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing it of trivialising the wave of mass killings across Nigeria by falsely framing them as mere “farmer-herder clashes.”

Speaking on Channels Television’s Hard Copy on Friday, Farotimi described the government’s posture as a “deliberate effort to whitewash atrocities” that have once again attracted global outrage — including strong remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently referred to the killings as a “genocide.”

“You are calling genocide farmers-herders clash — what nonsense,” Farotimi declared. “How can a farmer who owns nothing be clashing with someone carrying a Kalashnikov or an M16 rifle? And they call that a clash. You even find government persons peddling that idiocy.”

The fiery lawyer argued that the government’s insistence on calling the situation a communal clash is a cover-up for state failure and complicity, stressing that the killings bear all the hallmarks of a coordinated campaign of extermination rather than spontaneous violence.

“The Government Is Hiding Behind Lies”

Farotimi accused the authorities of intentionally spreading misleading narratives to deflect accountability and mislead the international community.

“Let us deal with the reality that has been painted for us. Some of us have held up mirrors for years, showing Nigeria the fact of its ugly nudity, but it refused to change,” he said.

He noted that recent foreign criticism has forced the issue back into the global spotlight, exposing what he called the government’s “culture of denial and deception.”

“Now someone outside is telling them the truth,” he continued. “The truth is not devalued in the tongue of a liar. The question is: has Donald Trump lied about the killings? Maybe some people don’t like that he called it genocide — it’s a political word, yes — but it doesn’t change the fact that unacceptable casualties are being recorded in a country that claims to be at peace.”

“People Are Being Buried in Mass Graves”

Farotimi lamented that while thousands of Nigerians are being killed and buried in mass graves, official discourse remains fixated on semantics and image management rather than justice.

“People are being buried in mass graves, and we are still quarrelling over what name Donald Trump used,” he said. “I don’t need Trump to tell me what I have seen and heard. I have called what is happening in Nigeria genocide for almost ten years.”

The activist alleged that some elements within the government are not only aware of the ongoing atrocities but are directly complicit through their silence and inaction.

“They don’t need Trump to tell them what is happening in their country,” he said. “They are complicit in what is happening. These are people exercising the powers of impunity granted by the Nigerian state — and they know nothing will happen to them, so they do as they please.”

Context and Reactions

Farotimi’s comments come amid renewed global attention on Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and allegations of targeted violence in several northern and Middle Belt communities.

The Nigerian government has continued to describe the crisis as “farmer-herder clashes”, a position that many local and international observers say downplays the severity and organised nature of the violence.

Meanwhile, Washington’s recent warnings and President Trump’s controversial remarks have triggered a diplomatic standoff between the United States and Nigeria, with the African Union and several African leaders urging the U.S. to avoid “weaponising religion” in its foreign policy statements.

Farotimi, however, insists that terminology should not distract from accountability.

“Call it what you will — genocide, ethnic cleansing, or mass killing — the truth remains that innocent Nigerians are dying in their thousands, and the government is doing next to nothing,” he said.