Trump threatens military action against Nigeria

Donald Trump has threatened military action against Nigeria if the government continues to allow terrorists to kill Christians.

The African country is being roiled by internal violence, including a jihadist insurgency spearheaded by extremist group Boko Haram in the northeast since 2009.

Amid the various forms of bloodletting around the country - including ethnic rivalry and banditry - the Islamist militants have been slaughtering Christians as well as Muslims they regard as 'apostates' for failing to comport with their brand of Islam.

There has also been a separate onslaught by Fulani Muslim tribesmen against mainly Christian farming communities, a protracted crisis linked to a tangle of issues like religion, ethnicity and a scramble over the dwindling supply of arable land.

Trump has already designated Nigeria a 'country of particular concern,' but he took his condemnation of the situation in the country even further on Saturday, warning that the United States may strike Nigeria if the horrendous murders continue. 

'If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA 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 wrote on X.

'I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action,' the president declared, noting that any attack would be 'fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians.'

'WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!'

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth echoed the sentiment, as he announced his department is preparing for action.

'The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria - and anywhere = must end immediately,' he wrote on social media.

'Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.' 

The Nigerian state and the Christian Association of Nigeria have denied claims that a 'Christian genocide' is unfolding in the country.

'For the avoidance of any doubt, and out of respect for all the victims and survivors around the world of this unique and appalling crime against humanity, let the record show that there is no genocide, now or ever, in Nigeria,' Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs told Newsweek. 

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu also argued on social media that the characterization of Nigeria as being religiously intolerant does not reflect reality, as the country's population of 220 million is split almost equally between Christians and Muslims.

'Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so,' he wrote. 

'Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it. Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.' 

Still, the allegations have been gathering steam on the American right and was also leveled by liberal commentator Bill Maher on a recent episode of his political talk-show Real Time with Bill Maher.

Maher, a fervent supporter of Israel, slammed what he felt was the media's hypocrisy in focusing on Gaza while devoting scant attention to Nigeria, and rapper Nicki Minaj thanked Trump for recognizing the issue on social media.

US Senator Ted Cruz has also urged Congress to designate Africa's most populous country as a violator of religious freedom with claims of 'Christian mass murder.' 

By designating Nigeria as a 'country of particular concern' (CPC) Trump declared on Friday that the United States views the country as being engaged in 'particularly severe violations of religious freedom,' under the International Religious Freedom Act of the Clinton era.

While announcing the move, Trump said that 'Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria' and revealed he was also 'asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me.'

He added: 'The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!'