Monday, November 3, 2025 - President Donald Trump’s public threat to use military force over alleged killings of Christians in Nigeria has triggered sharp divisions within the country’s opposition, with some leaders urging international cooperation rather than threats that could inflame tensions at home.
The U.S. President, in a fiery post on his Truth Social
platform, declared that Nigeria had been designated a “Country of Particular
Concern” and directed his Department of War to “prepare for possible action” if
the killings continued.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing
of Christians,” Trump wrote, “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 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.”
Trump’s remarks, later backed by U.S. Secretary of War Pete
Hegseth, who confirmed the department was “preparing for action” have sparked
outrage and unease in Abuja, where leaders warned the comments could undermine
diplomacy and worsen Nigeria’s internal security challenges.
Reacting on X (formerly Twitter), presidential candidate of
the New Nigeria People’s Party in the 2023 election, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso,
said while insecurity in Nigeria was real, the country required assistance and
not intimidation.
“I have noted with increasing concern the heightened
pronouncements on Nigeria by President Donald Trump,” he wrote. “Our country is
a sovereign nation whose people face multiple threats from outlaws across the
country. The insecurity we face does not distinguish by religion, ethnicity, or
political belief.”
He urged the U.S. to support Nigeria with advanced
technology and intelligence-sharing rather than punitive rhetoric.
“The United States should assist the Nigerian authorities
with cutting-edge security technology instead of issuing threats that could
further polarise our country,” he said.
Kwankwaso also advised President Bola Tinubu to appoint
special envoys and fill vacant ambassadorial posts to strengthen diplomatic
engagement with Washington.
In a separate statement, the NNPP National Publicity
Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, described Trump’s remarks as a “serious wake-up
call” to the Tinubu administration, which he accused of underperforming on
security.
“What the Americans are saying, essentially, is that the
government is not doing enough,” Johnson said. “Bandits and insurgents do not
know one religion from another; they attack everyone. All Nigerians deserve
protection.”
He urged Tinubu to review the performance of the service
chiefs and the police hierarchy, saying the president must “ensure all
Nigerians are properly protected.”
Johnson also warned against selective defence of religious
rights, citing reports of harassment of traditional religion adherents in Osun
and Kwara States.
“Mr President should talk to the Governor of Osun and the
monarch of Iwo to stop harassing devotees of our African traditional religion,”
he said. “The same applies to Ilorin. Talk is cheap — action is what’s needed.”
The Labour Party, however, backed Trump’s stance. Its
interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, accused President Tinubu of
hypocrisy and denial over targeted attacks on Christians.
“Eleven years ago, before Bola Tinubu railroaded the system
to declare him President, he tweeted in 2014 that the killing of Christian
worshippers was condemnable and questioned Jonathan’s competence,” Akeni said.
“At that time, about 11,000 Christians had been killed by
Boko Haram in four years. Another 6,500 died between 2010 and 2015. Under
Tinubu, that figure has skyrocketed to over 14,000 within two years — nearly
double the PDP-era rate.”
Akeni described Tinubu’s dismissal of targeted Christian
killings as “wicked, godless, and unpatriotic,” and commended Trump and other
U.S. officials for their “courage and conviction.”
He also urged the U.S. to extend protection to liberal
Muslim communities that have stood against extremism.
“They have shown that a united Nigeria, irrespective of
religion or politics, is possible if we have good leaders,” he said.
President Tinubu, in a statement posted on X, rejected
Trump’s classification of Nigeria as religiously intolerant, insisting that the
country remains committed to constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.
“Nigeria stands firmly as a democracy governed by
constitutional liberty,” Tinubu said. “The characterization of Nigeria as
religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality.”
The U.S. designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular
Concern” — a diplomatic label reserved for nations accused of severe violations
of religious freedom — has revived global scrutiny of Nigeria’s worsening
insecurity and communal killings.
As the controversy grows, analysts warn that Trump’s
“guns-a-blazing” rhetoric could strain diplomatic ties and provoke nationalist
backlash, even as opposition voices insist the episode should force Nigerian
leaders to confront insecurity with urgency, not denial.
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