Critics should "think twice" before making statements about the complex security situation in the African state, the body's chairman has said

The African Union Commission (AUC) has dismissed US President Donald Trump's allegations that a genocide is taking place in Nigeria against "very large numbers" of Christians. The body warned that such statements distort the reality of a complex conflict.

Trump placed Nigeria on a list of 'Countries of Particular Concern' this month, citing persistent insecurity and attacks by extremist groups. He also ordered the Pentagon to prepare potential military options to "protect" Christians.

The move followed claims by Republican US Congressman Riley Moore that more than 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria this year, with hundreds more abducted or displaced by armed groups such as Boko Haram.

AUC chairman Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told reporters at a joint press conference with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Wednesday that "there is no genocide" in northern Nigeria, contrary to allegations made by US officials.

"The first victims of Boko Haram are Muslims, not Christians," Youssouf said, warning that the "complexity" of the security situation in northern Nigeria should "push us to think twice before declaring or making such statements."

"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 part of eastern DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo]," Youssouf said.

He backed the Nigerian government's position that violence in Africa's most populous country affects people of all religious affiliations. Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have waged an insurgency in the country's northeast for more than 15 years, leaving tens of thousands dead and displacing millions more.

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Last week, Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar rejected the US allegations and cautioned against rhetoric that could fuel the partitioning of the country along religious or tribal lines.