US signals broader efforts to protect Nigeria’s Christians following Trump’s military threat

WASHINGTON– President Donald Trump’s administration is encouraging efforts to work with the Nigerian government to counter violence against Christians, signaling a broader strategy since he ordered preparations for possible military action and warned that the United States could use “the guns” to eliminate Islamist militants.

A State Department official said last week that the plans involve much more than just the potential use of military force, describing an expansive approach that includes diplomatic tools, such as possible sanctions, but also assistance programs and intelligence sharing with the Nigerian government.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also met with Nigeria’s national security adviser to discuss ways to end the violence, posting photos on social media of them shaking hands and smiling. That contrasts with Trump’s threats this month to cut off all aid to Nigeria if its government “continues to allow the killing of Christians.”

The efforts could support Trump’s pledge to avoid increased involvement in foreign conflicts and come as the U.S. security footprint has diminished in Africa, where military partnerships have been reduced or canceled. US forces would likely have to be drawn from other parts of the world for any military intervention in Nigeria.

The Republican president nevertheless kept up the pressure as Nigeria faced a series of attacks on schools and churches, in violence that experts and residents say targets both Christians and Muslims.

“I’m really angry about this,” the president said Friday when asked about the new violence on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show.” He claimed the Nigerian government had “done nothing” and said “what is happening in Nigeria is a shame.”

The Nigerian government has rejected his claims.

After meeting Thursday with Nigerian National Security Advisor Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Hegseth posted on social media Friday that the Pentagon is “working aggressively with Nigeria to end the persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists.”

“Hegseth emphasized the need for Nigeria to demonstrate its commitment and take both urgent and lasting action to end violence against Christians and conveyed the Department’s desire to work by, with and through Nigeria to deter and degrade terrorists who threaten the United States,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Jonathan Pratt, who heads the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, told lawmakers Thursday that “possible War Department engagement” was part of a broader plan, while the issue was discussed by the National Security Council, a branch of the White House that advises the president on national security and foreign policy.

But Pratt described a wide-ranging approach during a congressional hearing regarding Trump’s recent designation of Nigeria as “a country of particular concern” on religious freedom, which opens the door to sanctions.

“This would extend from security to policing to the economy,” he said. “We want to look at all of these tools and have an overall strategy to get the best possible outcome.”

The violence in Nigeria is far more complex than Trump has portrayed, with Islamist militant groups like Boko Haram killing both Christians and Muslims. At the same time, predominantly Muslim herders and Christian farmers are fighting over land and water. Armed bandits, motivated more by money than religion, also carry out kidnappings for ransom, with schools being a popular target.

In two mass school kidnappings last week, students were kidnapped from a Catholic school on Friday and others a few days earlier from a school in a predominantly Muslim town. In another attack, gunmen killed two people in a church and kidnapped several worshippers.

The situation is increasingly attracting worldwide attention. Rapper Nicki Minaj spoke at a United Nations event hosted by the United States, saying “no group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion.”

While the Trump administration did move to mount an intervention, the departure of U.S. forces from neighboring Niger and their forced expulsion from a French base near the Chadian capital last year has left fewer resources in the region.

Options include mobilizing resources from Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, and from smaller temporary centers known as cooperative security sites. U.S. forces operate in these areas for specific missions, in collaboration with countries like Ghana and Senegal, and are likely not large enough for an operation in Nigeria.

The region has also become a diplomatic black hole following a series of coups that have rocked West Africa, leading military juntas to oust former Western partners. In Mali, senior American officials are now trying to re-engage the junta.

Even if the US military redirects its forces and assets towards strikes inside Nigeria, some experts question the effectiveness of military action.

Judd Devermont, senior adviser to the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that if Trump ordered a few successful airstrikes, they would likely fail to degrade Islamist militants who have killed Christians and Muslims.

“Nigeria’s struggles with insecurity are decades-long,” said Devermont, who was senior director for African affairs at the National Security Council under Democratic President Joe Biden. “This situation cannot be reversed overnight by an influx of American resources. »

Combating the violence would require programs such as economic and interfaith partnerships as well as more robust policing, Devermont said, adding that U.S. participation would require Nigeria’s cooperation.

“This is not a policy of negligence on the part of the Nigerian government, but a problem of capacity,” Devermont said. “The Federal Government does not want to see its citizens being killed by Boko Haram nor does it want to see sectarian violence escalate as it has. »

The Nigerian government has rejected unilateral military intervention but said it would welcome any aid to combat armed groups.

Boko Haram and its splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province, are waging a devastating Islamist insurgency in the northeastern region and the Lake Chad region, Africa’s largest basin. Activists often crisscross the lake on speedboats, spreading the crisis to border countries like Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

American intervention without coordination with the Nigerian government would carry enormous danger.

“The consequences are that if the United States deploys troops on the ground without understanding the context they are in, it poses risks to the troops,” said Malik Samuel, security researcher at Good Governance Africa.

Nigeria’s own air attacks against armed groups have regularly resulted in accidental airstrikes that have killed civilians.

To target well, governments must have a clear understanding of the intersecting causes of farmer-herder conflicts and banditry in border areas. Misinterpretation of the situation could lead to a spread of violence to neighboring countries, Samuel added.

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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria, and Metz, Rabat, Morocco.