United States President Donald Trump has warned that Washington may carry out additional military strikes in Nigeria if what he described as the continued killing of Christians persists.
Trump made the statement during an interview with The New York Times when questioned about the Christmas Day missile strikes targeting Islamic State militants. He was asked whether the attack signalled the beginning of a wider U.S. military campaign in Nigeria. The strikes came after Trump had earlier threatened to deploy American troops into the country “guns-a-blazing to wipe out the terrorists k!lling our cherished Christians,” amid claims by some U.S. politicians that Christians were facing genocide in parts of Nigeria.
However, the Nigerian government downplayed the incident, insisting it was not part of a broader campaign. Ademola Oshodi, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Foreign Affairs and Protocol, described the missile strikes as a one-off occurrence.
Nigeria has repeatedly rejected claims that Christians are being deliberately targeted for violence. In October, Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, stated that extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS had killed more Muslims than Christians in the country.
When asked to respond to Boulos’ assessment, Trump said: “I think that Muslims are being k!lled also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.”
Following the Christmas Day strikes, flight-tracking data reportedly showed that U.S. intelligence and surveillance operations in Nigerian airspace had resumed, further fuelling speculation about Washington’s next steps.
The comments have sparked renewed debate over security challenges in Nigeria and the role of foreign intervention in addressing terrorism and communal violence in the country.
