By Huldah Shado
Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened military action against Nigeria, accusing the government of failing to stop what he described as the persecution of Christians.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump said he had instructed the Pentagon to prepare for possible intervention, warning that Washington would “immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria” if the alleged killings continued.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will stop all aid and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to wipe out the Islamic terrorists committing these atrocities,” Trump wrote.
His remarks came after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rejected Trump’s earlier designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” describing it as inaccurate and unfair.
“Religious freedom and tolerance remain core to our national identity,” Tinubu said in a statement on Saturday, stressing that Nigeria protects the rights of all faiths.
Trump, however, maintained that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria, blaming “radical Islamists” for the violence.
His comments followed U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s recent call for Congress to classify Nigeria as a violator of religious freedom.
As of Saturday, the U.S. Department of Defense had not issued any statement on Trump’s directive.
However, his warning marks one of the most aggressive statements yet by a former American president regarding Nigeria’s religious tensions.
