Plateau State preacher and community advocate, Evangelist Ezekiel Dachomo, has said he became deeply depressed upon hearing accusations—originating from Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi—claiming that he and others were burying empty coffins to fabricate a false narrative of anti-Christian genocide in northern Nigeria.

Speaking during an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica, the senior pastor of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) said the allegations were not only hurtful but profoundly damaging, given the countless funerals he has conducted for victims of violent attacks attributed to Fulani militants.

Dachomo, who earlier threatened legal action against Sheikh Gumi, said, “I have presided over so many burials of victims of these terrorists. To hear someone claim the coffins were empty was devastating.”

He accused Gumi of intentionally spreading the claim to undermine evidence of targeted violence against Christian communities.
“The person spreading that accusation is a member of the terrorists and has been their chief negotiator,” he asserted. “He created this narrative to water down the mounting evidence of genocide against Christians in northern Nigeria.”

The preacher insisted he and the affected communities were even prepared to exhume the graves to prove the accusations false.

Dachomo also argued that communities under repeated attack must be allowed to defend themselves.
“All Christian communities must enter the ring of self-defence,” he said. “If attackers don’t go back alive when they invade our villages, they will think twice before coming.”

He further alleged that terrorist informants exist within state security agencies, revealing that militants often receive prior warning before military operations. He recounted an incident in which soldiers mobilised after one of their colleagues was killed, only for the attackers to flee after being tipped off.

According to Dachomo, his advocacy work has put him in constant danger. He claimed that armed groups have placed a bounty on his life.
“Anyone who finds me first and kills me will be given a reward,” he said.

Despite the danger, he said he had accepted the risks and instructed his family never to pay ransom if he is ever abducted, describing kidnapping as another tactic used to exploit and weaken Christian communities.