Our Reporter, New York
Plateau State–based preacher and community advocate, Evangelist Ezekiel Dachomo, says he became depressed and suicidal after hearing accusations—popularized by Sheikh Ahmad Gumi—that he and his people were burying empty coffins to fabricate claims of genocide against Christians in northern Nigeria.
Dachomo, a senior pastor of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), spoke during an exclusive interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica. He had earlier threatened legal action against Sheikh Gumi over the allegation.
The cleric said he had lost count of the number of funerals he had conducted for victims of suspected Fulani terrorists over the years.
“The person spreading that accusation is a member of the terrorists and has been their chief negotiator,” he alleged.
“He created this narrative to water down the mounting evidence of genocide against Christians in northern Nigeria.”
Dachomo maintained that he and the affected communities were willing to exhume the corpses for independent verification.
“Let the world see and judge if the coffins were empty,” he said.
On the continued attacks on Christian communities in Plateau State, the evangelist insisted that self-defence had become inevitable.
“All Christian communities must enter the ring of self-defense. If attackers don’t go out alive whenever they come into our villages, they will think twice before returning,” he said.
He further alleged that terrorist informants had infiltrated security agencies, leaking information to attackers ahead of planned military operations. He cited an incident in which soldiers mobilized to retaliate the killing of a colleague, only for the terrorists to flee after receiving advance warning.
Dachomo also disclosed that there is a bounty on his head.
“Anyone who finds me first and kills me will be rewarded,” he said.
Despite the threat, he stated that he had accepted his fate and instructed his family never to pay ransom if he is kidnapped, insisting that ransom payments are another avenue through which terrorists exploit and impoverish Christian communities.
