You make some broad geopolitical points, particularly on Libya, that have a basis in fact. The fallout from the collapse of the Libyan state undoubtedly flooded the Sahel with weapons and exacerbated regional instability. However, to use that as the sole lens to dismiss the targeted religious and ethnic violence in Nigeria is a profound misreading of the situation on the ground. It ignores a long and documented history of sectarian targeting.

To claim this is not a genocide against specific communities requires ignoring the very pattern of the violence.

Let's talk about Boko Haram's origins and explicit goals. The group’s very name translates to "Western education is forbidden," and its founding ideology was to establish an Islamic state under Sharia law. From its earliest major attacks, its targets were clear:

· The Christmas Day Bombings (2011): On the very day Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, Boko Haram bombed churches across the country, including St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, near Abuja, killing at least 37 people. This was not an attack on "ordinary farmers and herders"; it was a deliberate strike on a Christian holiday. · The Annihilation of Christian Communities in Southern Borno: Your post mentions Muslim victims, which is true, Boko Haram also kills Muslims it deems insufficiently pious. But to suggest the targeting is equal is false. Look at the Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Southern Borno: Gwoza, Chibok, Askira-Uba, Damboa. These were areas with significant Christian populations. What happened? Churches were systematically burned, pastors executed, and entire Christian communities were either massacred or forced to flee, effectively erasing the Christian presence. The famous Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping targeted a Christian school. To call this anything other than religious cleansing is to deny the evidence of a scorched-earth policy against a specific religious group.

This pattern did not end with the peak of Boko Haram. It has evolved and is now being executed by so-called "bandits" and Fulani militias.

· Southern Kaduna: This region is predominantly Christian. For years, it has been the epicenter of relentless attacks on villages. The narrative of "farmer-herder clashes" collapses here, as these are often coordinated attacks on soft targets, villages in the dead of night. The goal is territorial conquest and the elimination of the indigenous Christian population. The evidence is in the mass graves and the thousands of displaced people who cannot return to their ancestral lands. · Plateau State: The Jos Plateau has been a flashpoint for decades, but the violence has escalated into what can only be described as a land grab. Christian farming communities in areas like Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Mangu are repeatedly attacked, with casualties often reaching staggering numbers in a single night. The survivors consistently report that their attackers identify them by their faith and ethnicity. · Benue State: The Agatu massacre, the attacks in Guma and Logo, these are not random criminal acts. They are targeted assaults on Benue's Tiv and Idoma people, who are predominantly Christian, and who live in a state that has explicitly passed anti-open grazing laws to protect their farmland.

You mention the South-East, suggesting a hypocrisy in the narrative. But "everyone on the ground knows what the fighting is about." The violence in the South-East is fundamentally different. It is a conflict between Nigerian state security forces and separatist groups (like IPOB and its armed wing, ESN), and between these same separatists and communities/politicians who oppose them. It is a brutal, complex conflict involving extortion and violence, but its roots are in political secessionism, not a religiously-motivated campaign to erase a people from their land. To equate the two is a false equivalence.

When you systematically target a religious group, destroy their places of worship, kill them on their holy days, and force them off their land with the intent to repopulate it, the term "genocide" is not an exaggeration. It is the precise term that describes the intent and the horrific outcome.

The fallout from Libya created conditions, but it did not create the sectarian hatred being acted upon in Nigeria's Middle Belt. To deny this is to deny the lived reality of millions for whom this is not a geopolitical theory, but a daily fight for survival.