Nigerians from both Christian and Muslim communities have strongly condemned recent threats by former US President Donald Trump to launch military strikes in response to what he described as the “mass killing of Christians” in the country.
Speaking over the weekend, Trump claimed he had asked the Pentagon to draw up plans for possible attacks, saying the US would not “allow Christians to be killed in large numbers.” The statement sparked outrage across Nigeria, where religious leaders and citizens called the remarks misleading and dangerous.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is almost evenly divided between a predominantly Christian south and a Muslim-majority north.
The country has long struggled with overlapping crises — ethnic tensions, farmer-herder conflicts, jihadist insurgencies, and criminal banditry — that claim lives on all sides.
Community leader Danjuma Dickson Auta, from Plateau State, said the violence in Nigeria affects both Christians and Muslims alike.
“Christians are being killed, yes, but Muslims are also being killed,” Auta told AFP. “This isn’t a war of religion — it’s a problem of poor governance, land disputes, and insecurity.”
President Bola Tinubu also rejected Trump’s comments, calling religious tolerance “a core tenet of Nigeria’s identity.” He urged international partners to understand the country’s complex realities rather than framing the conflict as one-sided persecution.
In Plateau and other Middle Belt states, long-standing clashes between Christian farmers and Fulani Muslim herders have escalated due to competition over shrinking farmland and climate change.
Experts say the violence is often portrayed as religious but is mainly driven by land pressure, poor law enforcement, and poverty.
Abubakar Gamandi, a Muslim leader from Borno State — the heart of the Boko Haram insurgency — dismissed claims of a Christian “genocide.”
“Even those spreading this narrative know it isn’t true,” he said. “Most of the victims of terrorism here are Muslims.”
Political analysts believe Trump’s statements may also be influenced by recent diplomatic tensions. According to Jervin Naidoo of Oxford Economics, Washington’s rhetoric escalated after Abuja refused to accept non-Nigerian deportees under the US immigration policy, leading to visa restrictions for Nigerians.
Reverend Joseph Hayab, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the north, urged calm but said the issue should prompt serious reflection.
“People are twisting the story as if Trump is coming to fight Nigeria. No — he is speaking against terrorists,” Hayab said.
Meanwhile, Tinubu’s spokesperson Daniel Bwala downplayed the situation, saying Trump’s remarks were likely a diplomatic strategy to push for closer cooperation on security.
“Donald Trump has his own style of communication,” Bwala noted. “Perhaps this is his way of forcing dialogue between the two countries.”
Nigeria continues to grapple with multiple security challenges — from jihadist violence in the northeast to armed bandit attacks in the northwest and communal clashes in the central region.
While religion often appears to divide, many Nigerians say the real enemies are poverty, poor governance, and weak security institutions.
As both Christians and Muslims unite to reject external interference, citizens are calling on their government to focus on lasting peace, justice, and economic stability at home.
