Wary Nigerian leaders welcome U.S. help against militant Islamists accused in Christian killings

President Trump has threatened to send the U.S. military to Nigeria and cut off foreign aid to the country if the government “continues to allow the killing of Christians.”

He said aid would be cut off and the military “could very well go to this now disgraced country, ‘with guns blazing,’ to completely eliminate the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.” »

“I hereby order our War Department to prepare for possible action,” he wrote on Truth Social over the weekend. “If we attack, it will be swift, vicious and gentle, just like the terrorist thugs attack our Christian Christians! WARNING: NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER ACT QUICKLY!”

A spokesman for Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said on Sunday that the African nation would accept help from the US military, but that Mr Trump should view Nigeria as a “sovereign” country.

“We welcome US aid provided it recognizes our territorial integrity,” spokesman Daniel Bwala told Reuters. “I am sure that when these two leaders meet and sit, our common determination to fight terrorism will achieve better results. »

The presidential spokesperson said Islamic jihadists had killed people of all faiths and were not targeting Christians in their attacks.

He said Nigerian leaders understand that Mr. Trump should not be taken literally and instead see the style of the American president “using force to force a meeting and a conversation.”

The spokesperson said he knows Mr. Trump’s ultimate goal is to combat insecurity, and he hopes the two leaders can meet soon to discuss strategies.

On Friday, Mr. Trump said in a message that he called Nigeria “a country of particular concern.”

“Christianity faces an existential threat in Nigeria,” Trump said in a social media post. “Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass massacre. I hereby designate Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN”.”

He said he would ask several lawmakers to look into the matter and report back to him. This designation also allows the United States to impose sanctions on countries that violate religious freedom.

“The United States cannot stand idly by while such atrocities occur in Nigeria and many other countries. We are ready, willing and able to save our great Christian population across the world,” Trump said.

The religious affiliations of the 220 million people who live in Nigeria are almost divided, with the Muslim population concentrated in the north and the Christian population in the south.

Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday in response to Mr. Trump’s nomination that the country remained “committed to combating violent extremism.”

“Like America, Nigeria has no choice but to celebrate the diversity which is our greatest strength. Nigeria is a God-fearing country where we respect faith, tolerance, diversity and inclusion, in line with the rules-based international order,” the ministry wrote.

Mr. Trump singled out Nigeria as a country of particular concern during his first term, but the Biden administration has reversed that label.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has proposed imposing sanctions on Nigerian leaders who fail to protect the country’s Christians.

“Nigerian Christians are targeted and executed for their faith by Islamist terrorist groups and are forced to submit to Sharia and blasphemy laws across Nigeria,” Mr. Cruz said in September. “It is long past time to impose real costs on Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities, and my Nigerian Religious Freedom Accountability Act uses new and existing tools to do just that.” »

A report released in August by Nigerian human rights organization Intersociety said more than 7,000 Christians had been killed this year in attacks by jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

An organization that tracks political violence around the world, known as ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data), said most of the jihadists’ victims during their years-long insurgency are Muslim.

Boko Haram has been waging a campaign in northern Nigeria for 15 years to overthrow the existing authorities and enforce sharia law.

The terror group’s attacks include suicide bombings, raids on military bases and the massacre of residents loyal to its equally violent rival faction, ISWAP. The ongoing conflict has left thousands dead and millions homeless.

This spring, the governor of Nigeria’s northeastern state of Borno warned that Boko Haram was making a comeback.

Nigerian officials said Boko Haram killed 63 people, mostly civilians, in a September ambush on a military base in Dar al-Jamal.

Meanwhile, ISWAP has been linked to several attacks on government targets, including Borno State’s largest military camp in Marte.

The United States has designated Boko Haram and ISWAP as foreign terrorist organizations.