United States President Donald Trump has stirred fear in the hearts of the Nigerian government after threatening to launch a military strike on the country over what he described as the “mass killing of Christians.”
In a raging rant on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed Christians in Nigeria face an “existential threat,” warning that he has directed the Pentagon to draw up a plan of attack if the killings continue.
He declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern,” accusing its leaders of turning a blind eye to “radical Islamist attacks.”
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” he said.
“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians,” he added.
He capped it off with a chilling warning: “WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu swiftly dismissed Trump’s remarks, rejecting claims that Nigeria is hostile to religious freedom.
Tinubu said: “Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so. Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it.”
The Nigerian leader described the U.S. politician’s outburst as misguided, stressing that Nigeria remains committed to protecting the rights of citizens of all faiths.
Trump’s remarks came after he alleged that “thousands of Christians are being killed” in Nigeria by radical Islamists.
Analysts, however, argue that Nigeria’s long-running security crisis cuts across ethnic, political, and religious lines, with both Christians and Muslims among the victims of insurgency and communal violence.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, remains deeply divided between a Muslim-majority north and a largely Christian south, a balance that continues to shape its fragile politics and social tensions.
