United States President, Donald Trump, has again insisted on his condemnation of alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria, reiterating that Christians are being killed in record numbers in the West African nation.
Trump, who spoke to journalists aboard his Air Force One aircraft while returning to White House on Sunday following a weekend trip to Florida, said the United States is not going to allow the “killings” to continue.
“They’re killing record numbers of Christians in Nigeria… They’re killing the Christians and killing them in large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” Trump said in a short CNN video sighted by Tribune Online.
Christian Genocide Saga
While allegations of Christian genocide are not new, the saga began again recently after a US comedian and HBO host, Bill Maher, accused Islamist groups of carrying out a genocide against Christians in the country.
“I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over a hundred thousand since 2009. They’ve burnt 18,000 churches. These are the Islamists, Boko Haram. This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza.
“They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country,” Maher said.
Similarly, US Senator Ted Cruz claimed that Nigerian government officials were “ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.”
Cruz also lamented that Christians in the country were being targeted for their faith by terrorist groups and “are being forced to submit to sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria.”
He said it was “long past time to impose real costs on the Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities,” adding that he had introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act to the US Senate to sanction such officials.
In the same vein, Riley Moore, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd District in the US Congress, wrote to the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, urging him to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
Moore also called for a suspension of arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until the government demonstrates commitment to ending what he described as “a reign of persecution and slaughter against Christians.”
However, the Nigerian government, alongside Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), rejected these claims, describing the allegation as a harmful misrepresentation of the country’s complex realities.
Country of Particular Concern
While the controversy surrounding Christian genocide claim was already winding down, the US President’s post on his Truth Social account on Saturday, accusing the Nigerian government of allowing what he described as “killing of Christians” brought the issue again to global attention.
Trump, in the post, alleged that Christianity in Nigeria faces an existential threat from radical Islamist groups who he claimed have been targeting Christian communities in different parts of Nigeria, and announced the designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it.
“When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done! I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me.
“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”
Tinubu Fires Back At Trump
Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a statement on Saturday, responded to the allegations from the US President, stating that the country guarantees religious freedom for all.
“Nigeria stands firmly as a democracy governed by constitutional guarantees of religious liberty,” the president wrote in a reaction he personally signed on Saturday and posted on his X handle, @officialABAT.
Trump’s Guns-a-blazing threat
Barely 24 hours after his first comment, the President Donald Trump doubled down on the claim, announcing a stop to all aid to Nigeria and ordering his Department of War to prepare for possible action in Nigeria.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the military intervention from the U.S. will “completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
He wrote, “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.
“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! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”
Confirming the development, US War Secretary, Pete Hegseth, announced that the department is preparing for military operations in Nigeria, giving the Nigerian government two options.
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