NIGERIA and the United States have renewed their pledge to strengthen security cooperation after high-level discussions in Abuja between National Security Adviser, Mr Nuhu Ribadu, and a visiting delegation of senior US lawmakers.
The talks followed weeks of aggression from the United States over an alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria, which the government has denied.
The talks between the two nations centred on counter-terrorism, regional stability, and ways to expand the strategic security partnership between both countries. The visit follows similar engagements in Washington, D.C., last month, underscoring sustained efforts to address shared regional and global security threats.
The US delegation included prominent members of the House of Representatives—Mr Mario Díaz-Balart, Ms Norma Torres, Mr Scott Franklin, Mr Juan Ciscomani and Mr Riley Moore.
Mr Ribadu and his team held extensive conversations with the lawmakers on counter-terrorism strategies and measures to enhance stability across West Africa. Mr Ribadu reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness to deepen cooperation with the United States, particularly in intelligence sharing, joint counter-terrorism initiatives and broader efforts to promote peace and security.
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“The security challenges facing our region require strong collaboration between Nigeria and our international partners. We are committed to working closely with the United States to strengthen our joint efforts against terrorism and other threats, and to advance our shared interests in regional peace and security,” Mr Ribadu noted.
Why the meeting was important
United States President, Mr Donald Trump, had in early November wrote:“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria,” he claimed. “Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN’ — But that is the least of it. When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done!”
He then followed it up with a threat to the Nigerian government if it failed to take action against the alleged genocide. “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.”
Trump subsequently described Nigeria as ‘disgraceful’ in a Fox news interview for allegedly allowing terrorists to kill Christians while the authorities looked the other way.
He then appointed two members of the House of Representatives to lead an investigation into Christian genocide in Nigeria.
Mr Trump had appointed House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) and Rep. Riley Moore (R-West Virginia) to lead the investigation.
READ ALSO: American rights group presses UN to curb escalating violence against Nigerian Christians
Mr Moore has been one of the most vocal U.S. legislators campaigning alleged against anti-Christian practices in Nigeria. He introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives recently condemning what he called “the ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria,” supporting President Trump’s announcement to officially designate Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern.’
Though allegations of religious genocide is not widely accepted in Nigeria, some pastors and missionaries in Nigeria’s North say Christians are persecuted and targeted. A vocal advocate against violence targeting Christians in Plateau State, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, earlier showed the graves of 501 Christians murdered by terrorists.
In November, he threatened to drag the Nigerian government before the International Criminal Court over the alleged genocide of Christians in the northern part of the country.
“The world needs to know that what we are saying is not false. I will go to any length to prove that this government is lying. We are also planning to take Nigeria before the International Criminal Court and sue the Miyetti Allah association for their role in these atrocities,” the cleric said, accusing the government and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of neglecting the alleged killings of Christians.
Though tense tempo has died down, the U.S. has continued to look into the matter in what many say undermines Nigeria’s sovereignty.
