THE United States President Donald Trump is exploting Nigerian government’s poor response to local killings, banditry and terrorism to threaten an invasion of Africa’s most populous nation and biggest oil producer.
Mr Trump, weekend, took two decisive decisions against Nigeria over an alleged genocide against Christians and the government’s inability to contain it. He first redesignated Nigeria as a ‘country of particular concern’ and followed it up with a threat to cut off aid and invade the nation to “wipe out Islamic terrorists.”
“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!” Mr Trump wrote on Friday on a Truth Social post, which was later shared on the White House’s X handle.
He then followed it up on Saturday with a threat to the Nigerian government if it fails 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.
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“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.”
The issues
Mr Trump may not really care about Nigerian Christians, but he is exploiting the Nigerian government’s lack of decisive action on insecurity to curry political favour, security analysts say.
For many years, government after government has played politics with insecurity in Nigeria, allowing political, ethnic and religious sentiments to guide their responses to insecurity. Now, the chickens have come home to roost, with an external power now threatening to do what the nation’s governments have faiked to do.
According to a report released on August 10th, more than 7,000 Nigerian Christians had been killed within the first 220 days of 2025 – an average of 32 deaths per day. Voice of the Martyrs says at least 7,800 Christians were displaced, with more than 19,000 churches destroyed over the period. Over 100 communities were also attacked within the period.
In the predominantly Christian communities in Benue, the number of Nigerians killed between 2023 and so far in 2025 is far higher than the population of people killed between 2020 and 2022. Seventy-two Benue citizens were killed in 2020, with the number rising to 374 in 2021 and falling to 228 in 2022. The number, however, rose to 430 in 2023 and further to 502 in 2024. So far in 2025, the number has hit 558, according to Ripples’ report.
Though the attacks might not have been targeted specifically at Christians, the killings occurred mainly in Christian communities. The majority of invaders are incidentally Fulanis or terrorists who are Muslim. The Nigerian government did not act decisively to stop the destruction of lives and properties in several of these communities in the North destroyed by Islamists and sometimes herders, security experts say.
Even the government’s response to killings related to blasphemcy has been weak. A religious expert and lecturer, Dr Emmanuel Adani said: “Deborah Emmanuel (Yakubu) of Shehu Shagari Teachers College was killed in Sokoto in 2022 for allegedly committing blasphemy. The school watched as the mob lynched and burnt her to death. Is there any public knowledge of the arrests and prosecution of people who committed that atrocity? We have two different laws for Christians and Muslims, which now explains why Mr Trump is angry with Nigeria.”
He continued, “Unless we begin to prosecute those who think they can kill at will once their religion is concerned, situations like this will not be avoided.”
The government weak responses, including widespread belief that some soldiers and northern Nigerian politicians are sponsoring the killings, fuelled the narrative that the killings are targeted at Christians, said a sociologist, Mr Nicholas Akaya. who is also from Benue State.
Protest in Benue State over kilings in June 2025
A March 12, 2025, document seen by Economy Post containing a witness account of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the diocese of Makurdi, quoted the clergman as saying, “Militant Fulani herdsman are terrorists. They steal and vandalize, they kill and boast about it, they kidnap and rape, and they enjoy total impunity from the elected officials. None of them have been arrested and brought to justice.”
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Hence the government non-challant attitude to lives, especially in the Middle-Belt communities, is now being used as a tool against the nation. In 2024, Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Pleateau State said terrorists had taken over 64 communities in the state. The Nigerian military did not take decisive actions against herders and criminals who were perpetrating the heinous crimes.
“From Benue to Plateau, down to Taraba and Borno, terrorists have attacked and killed thousands of Nigerians. Some of these communities are Christian, while others are not. But members of some communities where Christians are in the majority think that it is an attack on their faith, more so when the attackers chant Muslim songs and profess pro-Jihadist beliefs openly in those communities,” said a political scientist, Dr Anne Biroghe.
Analysts say the Nigerian government is yet to come up with a strategy to deal with killings in the Middle-East – the way it has one for Boko Haram in the North-East. The Middle-Belt appears to be a free-for-all, with minorities feeling they are unprotected against pro-Jihadist groups.
“When an army officer came out on a TV station during the tenure of late Muhammadu Buhari to say that these attackers confessed that they wanted an Islamic state, what would you say if you were from Plateau, Benue or Taraba? Yes, the attacks are not focused on Christians alone, but our inability to do something about that is fuelling such misconceptions,” said a security analyst, Mr Hilary Okpe.
