Trump Says U.S. Troops Could Be Deployed To Nigeria To Defend Christians

The 943rd Rescue Group had to use night vision goggles to rescue a severely injured hiker. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald/Released)

President Donald Trump has warned that the United States military “could be” deployed to Nigeria or carry out strikes to stop what he called the killing of large numbers of Christians.

Last week, Trump claimed that radical Islamists are committing “mass slaughter” and Christianity is “facing an existential threat” in the West African nation. He also added Nigeria back to a “Countries of Particular Concern” list of nations that Washington says have violated religious freedoms.

“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! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!” he wrote to his Truth Social network on November 1.

Quickly after that, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on X that the Pentagon began preparing for action in Nigeria.

“Yes sir. The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria — and anywhere — must end immediately. The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,”

Asked on November 2 whether he envisioned U.S. troops on the ground or strikes in Nigeria, Trump refused to dismiss any of the two options.

“Could be. I mean, other things. I envisage a lot of things. They’re killing record numbers of Christians in Nigeria… They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” he told reporters during a flight on Air Force One.

Nigeria, a country of more than 200 million people, is divided between the largely Muslim north and mostly Christian south.

Armed groups, including the terrorist-designated Boko Haram, have been engaged in a conflict that has been largely confined to the northeast of the country, which is majority Muslim, and has dragged on for more than 15 years.

While Christians have been killed, especially in recent months, most of the victims have been Muslims, according to observers.

Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, a spokesman for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an interview with Al Jazeera on November 2, challenged the claims made by Trump.

“We are not proud of the security situation that we are passing through, but to go with the narrative” that only Christians are targeted, “no, it is not true. There is no Christian genocide in Nigeria”, he said.

“We’ve continuously made our point clear that we acknowledge the fact that there are killings that have taken place in Nigeria, but those killings were not restricted to Christians alone. Muslims are being killed. Traditional worshippers are being killed… The majority is not the Christian population.”

Denying the government involvement in the killing of Christians, Imomotimi Ebienfa said that Nigeria was ready to work with its partners to “fight this scourge of terrorism, but not any passive action that will undermine the sovereignty of our country”.

“The killings are not sanctioned by the Nigerian government,” he said. “The killing of any Nigerian in any part of the country is a loss to the country … The perpetrators of these killings are terrorist groups Boko Haram and other al-Qaeda and [ISIL] ISIS-affiliated groups that are perpetuating this crisis.”

It’s worth noting that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, a Muslim from southern Nigeria who is married to a Christian pastor, changed the country’s military leadership and appointed a Christian as the new Chief of Defense Staff just last month.

The motives behind the sudden U.S. escalation against Nigeria remain unclear. The country is the largest oil producer in Africa, and the third producer of gas after Algeria and Egypt. U.S. energy companies are, however, already active in the country. Thus, interest in this sector is not likely the motive.

Trump may be, in fact, looking to pressure Nigeria over its growing relations with China, which is the largest trading partner of the country.

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