The African Union Commission has dismissed claims by former US President Donald Trump that “very large numbers” of Christians were being killed in northern Nigeria, saying there is no genocide taking place in Africa’s most populous nation.

“What’s going on in the northern part of Nigeria has nothing to do with the kind of atrocities we see in Sudan or in some parts of eastern DRC,” AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told reporters at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday, referring to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Think twice before making such statements,” Youssouf said, stressing that “the first victims of Boko Haram are Muslims, not Christians.”

The armed extremist group Boko Haram has terrorised Nigeria’s northeast for nearly 15 years, killing tens of thousands of people—most of them Muslims, according to human rights experts.

Earlier this month, Trump accused Nigeria of allowing mass killings of Christians and said he had asked the US Department of Defense to prepare for possible “fast” military action if Abuja failed to act. He offered no evidence to support his claims and warned he might cut all US aid to Nigeria while threatening to go in “guns-a-blazing” to “wipe out” the terrorists.

In response, Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to fighting violent extremism and protecting all citizens “irrespective of race, creed, or religion.”

Nigeria, home to over 200 ethnic groups practicing Islam, Christianity, and traditional faiths, has a history of peaceful coexistence despite occasional sectarian and resource-based conflicts.