FOLLOWING the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife by United States President Donald Trump, experts are beginning to question the interest of two world leaders in Nigerian affairs.
President Trump sent Delta Force into the heart of the Venezuelan capital and extracted Venezuelan sitting president, along with his wife, terrifying the country with ‘large-scale’ strikes. President Trump had severally accused Mr Maduro of flooding the U.S. with drugs and gang members.
He believes Mr Maduro is respnsible for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. He accuses Mr Maduro of “emptying his prisons and insane asylums’ and forcing inmates to migrate to the U.S.
Trump also says that Mr Maduro is responsible for the influx of drugs – especially fentanyl and cocaine – into the US. He designated two Venezuelan criminal groups – Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles – as Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTOs), alleging that the latter was led by Mr Maduro himself.
Mr Maduro vehemently denied being a cartel leader and accused the US of using its allegations relating to drugs as an excuse to try to depose him and get its hands on Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
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On Saturday, the whole episode ended with Mr Maduro’s arrest, with his trial set to commence in the U.S.
Nigeria’s fears: Trump and Netanyahu
President Trump has been unusually interested in Nigeria’s affairs. In early November, Mr Trump designated Nigeria as a ‘country of concern’ and threatened to cut off aid and enter the nation to root out terrorists if the government failed to take action against the alleged Christian 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.
“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,” he said.
His post was backed by several American Republicans and officials of his government, including his Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth, who replied: “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.”
Mr Trump later appointed House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) and Rep. Riley Moore (R-West Virginia) to lead the investigation into the matter.
The U.S. delegation came to Nigeria to see things for themselves. But while they were still in Nigeria, Mr Trump added Africa’s most populous nation to the list of countries on partial entry restrictions to the United States.
The new Proclamation released by the White House recently added Nigeria and 14 other nations to the list of countries partially restricted from entering the U.S., which also included Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
On the reason for including Nigeria to the list, the Proclamation said, “Radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State operate freely in certain parts of Nigeria, which creates substantial screening and vetting difficulties. According to the Overstay Report, Nigeria had a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 5.56 percent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of 11.90 percent.”
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria subsequently announced a partial suspension of visa issuance beginning January 1, 2026.
On December 22, news broke that the United States had been carrying out intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November, according to flight-tracking data and current and former U.S. officials, signalling heightened security engagement between Washington and Abuja, Reuters reported.
On the Christmas night, Mr Trump launched airstrikes in Sokoto, targeting ISIS militants he had accused of killing Christians. He described the operation as ‘decisive’ and warned that more strikes would follow if the violence continued.
Israel’s interest in Nigeria
On January 1, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was working on an agenda to support beleaguered and persecuted Christian communities in Nigeria.
READ ALSO: Nigeria risks sanctions, investor backlash over Trump ‘country of concern’ tag
Mr Netanyahu spoke on Friday during a meeting with evangelical community leaders in Florida, United States, touting Israel as the only country in the world capable of protecting Christians.
The prime minister’s remarks came a day after his meeting with US President Donald Trump, who had announced air strikes in Nigeria on Christmas Day in fulfilment of his military intervention threat to stop an alleged Christian persecution in the country.
In a video posted on his X page, Netanyahu said, “I see the battle against us and the battle against our Judeo-Christian tradition, basically being waged around the globe. And it’s waged primarily by two forces, radical Shiite Islam and radical Sunni Islam.
“That means the axis that is led by Iran, much battered, admittedly, but still there, and the Sunni axis led by the Muslim Brotherhood, which permeates everything.
“They go to Europe, they go to the United States, they go to Africa, Nigeria. And we are conscious of the fact that Christians are being persecuted, across the Middle East, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Nigeria, in Turkey and beyond.
“We’re also aware of the fact, as you are, that one country protects the Christian community, enables it to grow, defends it, and makes sure that it thrives, and that country is Israel. There is no other. None.”
Netanyahu stated, “We are joining an effort to have basically a united nations or countries that support Christian communities around the world, beleaguered communities who deserve our help.
“Just as you are helping us, we want to help back; and we’re capable of doing this. In Africa, with intel, in the Middle East, with a lot of means that I won’t itemise each one. This is what our agenda is; it’s a main part of our agenda.”
Trump and Netanyahu are allies.
Experts’ fears
With the recent develpments, diplomacy experts say both men, particularly Mr Trump, would not go to nations where they wouldn’t find something useful.
“Trump usually uses flimsy excuses to enter into countries. It is his way and, in fact, the U.S. playbook,” said an international relations lecturer, Dr Bossman Adih.
“In Nigeria it is radicals or terrorists killing Christians. In Venezuela it is drug peddlers entering the U.S. After a few months of allegations and counter-allegations, Trump took out Madura without any resistance or protest by world leaders. If he wants to invade Nigeria, he will do so in seconds. I am personally not comfortable with Trump’s presence in Nigeria,” he said.
A diplomacy expert, Ms Deb Braithwaite, advised President Tinubu to continue treading the path of diplomacy, stressing that, “Trump isn’t interested in Nigerian Christians; he is interested in oil, power and people.”
According to her, “Trump wants some of our oil for the U.S. He wants to dictate who governs Nigeria, and he wants the heart of our people. Our people is now pro-China and Trump isn’t comfortable with it. He wants Nigeria back on its fold. But he will get more aggressive if Tinubu refuses to negotiate. That’s why he has sanctioned us here and there. So,Trump and Netanyahu’s interests are suspect.”
A Software Engineer, Mr Stephen Enunwah, posted on his X, “Tinubu’s only option against Trump was diplomacy; otherwise, he would have trended before President Maduro, and we all know he loves his power more than Nigerians.”
A lawyer and human rights activist, Mr Sam Adindu, referred to Trump as a “modern-day dictators who wants to wield so much power in the world.” He argued that Trump had a playbook for Nigeria which he would continue to use until the end of his term.
