The President of the United States of America, Donald Trump has threatened to deploy military forces in Nigeria if the alleged genocide against Christians is not stopped in the country.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, directed the Department of War to prepare for “possible action” if the killings continued.
The US President also threatened to halt all aid and assistance to Nigeria if President Bola Tinubu’s administration failed to end the alleged persecution and killing of Christians.
“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,” he said.
The Federal Government has yet to respond to the threat as of press time.
Tinubu rejects US claim
Trump’s latest declaration comes barely 24 hours after he designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, lamenting that Christians were facing an “existential threat” in the country.
In a post on Friday, he wrote, “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—are slaughtered as is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 worldwide), something must be done!”
President Bola Tinubu faulted the decision, which he described as a misrepresentation of the country’s religious reality.
Reacting through a statement on his official X handle on Saturday, Tinubu said the designation was baseless and failed to reflect the country’s constitutional commitment to religious liberty.
“Nigeria stands firmly as a democracy governed by constitutional guarantees of religious liberty. The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,” the President said.
He insisted that religious freedom and tolerance were “core tenets” of Nigeria’s identity, adding that the government remained committed to protecting all citizens regardless of faith.
“Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it,” he added.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the Federal Government was already in talks with the US over the matter.
“We will continue to engage the United States Government through our missions in Washington DC, Atlanta, and New York on this matter. Discussions will also continue with the American Embassy in Abuja,” he said.
Our correspondents also gathered that some lawmakers had been selected to travel to Washington to meet US congressmen before Trump’s announcement.
A ranking member of the House of Representatives told Sunday PUNCH that the visit would now be fast-tracked.
“The President’s designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern does not make it law. It will have to go through US lawmakers. A delegation, of which I am a member, was already scheduled to visit US congressmen before this declaration, and that visit will now be expedited,” the lawmaker said.
Credit: punchng.com
