United States President Donald Trump said he ordered the military to prepare for action in Nigeria against Islamic militant groups, accusing the government of failing to protect Christians.
In a post to Truth Social, Trump accused the Nigerian government of allowing 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,” he said.
“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!”
This warning came after Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, pushed back on Trump, announcing that Nigeria was “a country of particular concern” for allegedly failing to rein in persecution of Christians.
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so,” Ahmed Tinbu said in a social media statement.
“Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it.”
Nigeria is a country of more than 200 million people that is almost evenly split between Christians and Muslims.
An Islamic insurgency has dragged on for over 15 years and was largely confined to the northeast of the country, which is largely Muslim.
While Christians have been targeted, more Muslims have been killed, according to analysts.
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