United States President Donald Trump has warned Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu about the killings of Christians in the country. He has threatened that if the Nigerian government doesn’t take action to stop the killing of Christians, the US will stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria and may even take military action. Trump made this statement after designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” due to alleged systematic religious persecution.
Trump threatened to immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria if the killings persist.He also warned of potential military action, saying the US would “go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities”. President Trump has instructed the Department of War to prepare for possible war.
“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!”
The Nigerian government however has rejected Trump’s claims, stating that the country is committed to protecting citizens of all faiths and that the characterization of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect the national reality.
The history of religious conflicts between the Muslims and Christians in Nigeria can be traced back to 1953 before the countries independence and since then a lot of death of Christians have occurred. In 2022, Deborah Yakubu, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto was attacked, stoned and burnt to death by Muslim students on accusations of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad of Islam on Whatsapp. Two of the students who were involved in her killing were arrested but were not prosecuted which made Christians annoyed and voiced out about the injustice.
