(3 Minutes Read)
Trump alleges that the Nigerian Government was failing to rein in the persecution of Christians in the West African country. Notably, Trump also threatened immediate stoppage of all aid and assistance to Nigeria.
There were mixed reactions in Lagos on Monday after US President Donald Trump said he’d ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria. This followed Trump’s allegations that the Nigerian Government was failing to rein in the persecution of Christians in the West African country. Notably, Trump also threatened immediate stoppage of all aid and assistance to Nigeria.
Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu earlier countered the allegation of religious persecution directed at Christians in his country. In a social media statement on Saturday, Tinubu said that the characterization of Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country does not reflect the national reality.
Trump on Friday said Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria and radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. Trump’s comment came weeks after US Senator Ted Cruz urged Congress to designate Africa’s most populous country as a violator of religious freedom with claims of “Christian mass murder.”
Nigeria’s population of 220 million is split almost equally between Christians and Muslims. The country has long faced insecurity from various fronts, including the Boko Haram extremist group, which seeks to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law and has also targeted Muslims it deems not Muslim enough.
Read Also;
Analysts, however, say that it was unfair to tag the violence as genocide, since the casualty is from both Muslims and Christians and is largely perpetrated by Jihadists belonging to Boko Haram, the militant group wanting to secede from Nigeria.