Trump threatens to go into Nigeria ‘guns-a-blazing’ over attacks on Christians | Donald Trump
Donald Trump said on Saturday that he had ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for possible military action in Nigeria, as he stepped up criticism that the government had failed to rein in the persecution of Christians in the West African country.
“If the Government of Nigeria continues to allow the killing of Christians, the United States will immediately cease all aid and aid to Nigeria and may well go to this now disgraced, ‘firearms’ country to completely eliminate the Islamic Terrorists who are committing this horrific atrocity,” Trump said on social media. “I am instructing our War Department to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, fierce and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attacked our VALUED Christians!”
The warning of possible military action came after Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu objected early Saturday to Trump’s announcement a day earlier that he had designated the West African country as a “country of particular concern” for allegedly failing to rein in the persecution of Christians.
In a statement on social media on Saturday, Tinubu said describing Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country does not reflect the national reality.
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been and always will be one of the fundamental tenets of our collective identity,” Tinubu said. he said. “Nigeria opposes and does not encourage religious persecution. Nigeria is a country with constitutional safeguards to protect its citizens of all faiths.”
On Friday, Trump said “Christianity in Nigeria faces an existential threat” and that “radical Islamists are responsible for this mass murder.”
Trump’s comment came weeks after US senator Ted Cruz called on Congress to designate Africa’s most populous country as a violator of religious freedom over allegations of “Christian mass murder.”
Nigeria’s population of 220 million is almost equally divided between Christians and Muslims. The country has long faced insecurity from various fronts, including the extremist group Boko Haram, which has sought to impose its own radical interpretation of Islamic law and has also targeted Muslims it deems not Muslim enough.
Attacks in Nigeria have different causes. There are religiously motivated attacks targeting both Christians and Muslims, conflicts between farmers and herders over dwindling resources, social rivalries, separatist groups and ethnic conflicts.
While Christians were among those targeted, analysts say the majority of the armed groups’ victims were Muslims in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, where most of the attacks occurred.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to protecting its citizens of all religions.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria will continue to defend all citizens regardless of race, creed or religion,” Ebienfa said in a statement on Saturday. “Like America, Nigeria has no choice but to celebrate our greatest strength: diversity.”
Nigeria was placed on a list of countries of particular concern by the United States for the first time in 2020 for what the state department called “systematic violations of religious freedom.” That designation, which did not highlight attacks against Christians, was removed in 2023, which observers saw as a way to improve ties between the countries ahead of a visit by then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
