ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday stated he’s ordered the Pentagon to start planning for potential army motion in Nigeria as he stepped up his criticism that the federal government is failing to rein in the persecution of Christians within the West African nation.
“If the Nigerian Authorities continues to permit the killing of Christians, the usA. will instantly cease all support and help to Nigeria, and will very properly go into that now disgraced nation, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to fully wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who’re committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump posted on social media. “I’m hereby instructing our Division of Battle to organize for attainable motion. If we assault, will probably be quick, vicious, and candy, identical to the terrorist thugs assault our CHERISHED Christians!”
The warning of attainable army motion got here after Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu earlier on Saturday pushed again on Trump saying a day earlier that he was designating the West African nation “a rustic of explicit concern” for allegedly failing to rein within the persecution of Christians.
In a social media assertion on Saturday, Tinubu stated that the characterization of Nigeria as a religiously illiberal nation doesn’t mirror the nationwide actuality.
“Non secular freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identification and shall all the time stay so,” Tinubu stated. “Nigeria opposes spiritual persecution and doesn’t encourage it. Nigeria is a rustic with constitutional ensures to guard residents of all faiths.”
Trump on Friday stated “Christianity is going through an existential risk in Nigeria” and “radical Islamists are accountable for this mass slaughter.”
Trump’s remark got here weeks after U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz urged Congress to designate Africa’s most populous nation as a violator of spiritual freedom with claims of “Christian mass homicide.”
Nigeria’s inhabitants of 220 million is cut up virtually equally between Christians and Muslims. The nation has lengthy confronted insecurity from varied fronts together with the Boko Haram extremist group, which seeks to determine its radical interpretation of Islamic regulation and has additionally focused Muslims it deems not Muslim sufficient.
Assaults in Nigeria have various motives. There are religiously motivated ones concentrating on each Christians and Muslims, clashes between farmers and herders over dwindling sources, communal rivalries, secessionist groups and ethnic clashes.
Whereas Christians are amongst these focused, analysts say nearly all of victims of armed teams are Muslims in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, the place most assaults happen.
Kimiebi Ebienfa, a spokesperson for the Ministry of International Affairs, reiterated the dedication of Nigeria to guard residents of all religions.
“The Federal Authorities of Nigeria will proceed to defend all residents, no matter race, creed, or faith,” Ebienfa stated in an announcement on Saturday. “Like America, Nigeria has no choice however to have fun the variety that’s our biggest power.”
Nigeria was positioned on the nation of explicit concern checklist by the U.S. for the primary time in 2020 over what the State Division referred to as “systematic violations of spiritual freedom.” The designation, which didn’t single out assaults on Christians, was lifted in 2023 in what observers noticed as a method to enhance ties between the nations forward of then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit.
Madhani reported from West Palm Seaside, Fla.
