US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters arsenic helium arrives astatine Palm Beach International Airport connected Oct. 31, 2025 successful West Palm Beach, Florida.
Samuel Corum | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump connected Saturday said he's ordered the Pentagon to statesman readying for imaginable subject enactment successful Nigeria arsenic helium stepped up his disapproval that the authorities is failing to rein successful the persecution of Christians successful the West African country.
"If the Nigerian Government continues to let the sidesplitting of Christians, the U.S.A. volition instantly halt each assistance and assistance to Nigeria, and whitethorn precise good spell into that present disgraced country, 'guns-a-blazing,' to wholly hitch retired the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities," Trump posted connected societal media. "I americium hereby instructing our Department of War to hole for imaginable action. If we attack, it volition beryllium fast, vicious, and sweet, conscionable similar the violent thugs onslaught our CHERISHED Christians!"
The informing of imaginable subject enactment came aft Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu earlier connected Saturday pushed backmost connected Trump announcing a time earlier that helium was designating the West African state "a state of peculiar concern" for allegedly failing to rein successful the persecution of Christians.
In a societal media connection connected Saturday, Tinubu said that the characterization of Nigeria arsenic a religiously intolerant state does not bespeak the nationalist reality.
"Religious state and tolerance person been a halfway tenet of our corporate individuality and shall ever stay so," Tinubu said. "Nigeria opposes spiritual persecution and does not promote it. Nigeria is simply a state with law guarantees to support citizens of each faiths."
Trump connected Friday said "Christianity is facing an existential menace successful Nigeria" and "radical Islamists are liable for this wide slaughter."
Trump's remark came weeks aft U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz urged Congress to designate Africa's astir populous state arsenic a violator of spiritual state with claims of "Christian wide murder."
Nigeria's colonisation of 220 cardinal is divided astir arsenic betwixt Christians and Muslims. The state has agelong faced insecurity from assorted fronts including the Boko Haram extremist group, which seeks to found its extremist mentation of Islamic instrumentality and has besides targeted Muslims it deems not Muslim enough.
Attacks successful Nigeria person varying motives. There are religiously motivated ones targeting some Christians and Muslims, clashes betwixt farmers and herders implicit dwindling resources, communal rivalries, secessionist groups and taste clashes.
While Christians are among those targeted, analysts accidental the bulk of victims of equipped groups are Muslims successful Nigeria's Muslim-majority north, wherever astir attacks occur.
Kimiebi Ebienfa, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reiterated the committedness of Nigeria to support citizens of each religions.
"The Federal Government of Nigeria volition proceed to support each citizens, irrespective of race, creed, oregon religion," Ebienfa said successful a connection connected Saturday. "Like America, Nigeria has nary enactment but to observe the diverseness that is our top strength."
Nigeria was placed connected the state of peculiar interest database by the U.S. for the archetypal clip successful 2020 implicit what the State Department called "systematic violations of spiritual freedom." The designation, which did not azygous retired attacks connected Christians, was lifted successful 2023 successful what observers saw arsenic a mode to amended ties betwixt the countries up of then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit.
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