Eric Lee / EPA
US President Donald Trump
“With weapons at the ready.” This Saturday, the American president threatened a new military offensive on foreign soil, this time in Nigeria — a country where “mIslands of Christians are being killed by radical Islamists.”
The President of the USA, Donald Trumpsaid this Saturday that he ordered the Pentagon to begin planning a military action in Nigeriawhile intensifying his accusations that the Nigerian Government is not controlling the persecution of Christians in that West African country.
The president also warned that “he will immediately suspend all aid and assistance to Nigeria.”
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the murder of Christiansthe US will immediately suspend all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and will quite possibly enter that now disgraced country, ‘guns blazing’, to completely eradicate the islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump said on social media.
“I hereby instruct our War Department to prepare possible actions. If we attack, it will be fast, fierce and accuratejust as terrorist gangs attack our BELOVED Christians!”
“WARNING: IT’S BETTER THAN THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT ACT FAST!” Trump added, in capital letters, as he usually does.
The American president had already raised the possibility of sanctions against Nigeria, which he went on to classify as a “disgraced country”, for allegedly failing to stop the persecution of Christians.
Numa no X, on Saturday night, in response to Trump’s statement, the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth he wrote: “Yes sir”.
“The murder of innocent Christians in Nigeria — and anywhere — must cease immediately. The War Department is preparing for action,” wrote the Secretary of Defense. “Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
The Nigerian Government strongly rejects these allegationsand analysts claim that, although Christians are among those targeted, the most victims of armed groups are Muslimsespecially in the north of the country, with a Muslim majority, where most attacks occur, notes .
The President of Nigeria, Ahmed Tinubu ballstated on Saturday, on social media, that the characterization of the country as a religiously intolerant nation “does not reflect the national reality”.
“Religious freedom and tolerance they have been a fundamental tenet of our collective identity and will remain so,” said Tinubu. “Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it. It is a country with constitutional guarantees designed to protect citizens of all denominations”.
The warning of possible military action comes after Trump announced on Friday his intention to classify Nigeria as “a country of particular concern” in matters of religious freedom, a measure that was promoted by some members of the North American Congress.
This designation does not necessarily imply the imposition of sanctionswhich could include the suspension of all non-humanitarian aid, but represents a step in that direction.
“Christianity faces an existential threat in Nigeria,” Trump in a social media post. “Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass massacre. I hereby declare Nigeria a ‘COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN’.”
The designation of a “country of special concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is a Executive prerogative which typically follows recommendations from both the congressionally mandated U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the State Department.
The designation comes after the Republican senator Ted Cruzfrom Texas, have tried mobilize evangelical Christians to urge Congress to designate Nigeria as country that violates religious freedomwith allegations of “mass murder of Christians”.
Nigeria was first added to the United States’ list of “countries of special concern” in 2020, due to what the State Department called “systematic violations of religious freedoma,” but the designation did not specifically mention attacks against Christians.
The designation was withdrawn in 2023in a measure seen by many as a way of improving relations between the countries before the visit of the then Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
