Nigerians across religious lines pushed back Monday against US President Donald Trump’s threats of military action over killings of Christians. Africa’s most populous country is split between a mostly Christian south and Muslim-majority north, with conflicts killing both groups indiscriminately.
Claims of Christian “persecution” in Nigeria have recently gained traction among US and European right-wing circles online. “Christians are being killed, we can’t deny the fact that Muslims are (also) being killed,” community leader Danjuma Dickson Auta told AFP.
Trump said over the weekend he had asked the Pentagon to map out a possible plan of attack in Nigeria. Asked aboard Air Force One about US troops or air strikes, Trump replied: “Could be, I mean, a lot of things.”
“They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” he said. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu countered that religious tolerance remains “a core tenet of our collective identity,” rejecting claims of targeted persecution.
Plateau state, home to Auta, has seen deadly sectarian riots and ongoing clashes between Christian farmers and Fulani Muslim herders over land. Entire villages have been razed, while retaliatory attacks on herders generate fewer headlines, highlighting poor land management and weak policing in rural areas.
Claims of “Christian genocide” are often promoted by separatists in the southeast, with US lobbying firms advising Congress on alleged persecution. Meanwhile, jihadist violence in the northeast and bandit raids in the northwest primarily affect Muslim populations, complicating narratives of religious targeting.
Trump’s heightened rhetoric may be linked to Nigeria rejecting US demands to accept deported non-Nigerian migrants, prompting visa restrictions. Some Nigerian Christian leaders welcomed the comments as a “wake-up call” against terrorism, while Tinubu’s office called the rhetoric a push for cooperation.