By Paul Ejime
In most cases, when the so-called developed world or its leaders focus on the countries of the “Global South,” particularly in Africa, which they once described as the “dark continent,” it is usually for the benefit of the Global North or for the wrong/negative reasons – war, poverty, disease, conflicts, exploitation, corruption, and similar vices.
So, when American President Donald Trump, the acclaimed leader of the Global West, unusually turned his omnidirectional radar on Nigeria, Africa’s most populous Black Nation, he did not disappoint.
In 2018, during his first presidency, Trump called Haiti and African countries “shithole countries.”
However, between 31st October and 1st November, 2025, Trump took his scathing, incendiary and derogatory remarks a notch higher. In a tweet on 31 October via his Truth Social, he claimed that “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC)…”
In his second tweet on 1 November, Trump warned that “If Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, 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 who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
The CPC label is for nations “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The designation is largely symbolic, but U.S. law states that “governments must take targeted responses to violations of religious freedom.”
Trump first put Nigeria on the CPC list in 2020, but President Joe Biden delisted the country in 2021.
As expected, Nigerian government officials have come out blazing in their rejection and condemnation of the claim of “targeted Christian genocide” in the country. In his first public response to Trump’s tweets, President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, 6 November, reaffirmed his commitment to eradicating terrorism and deepening Nigeria’s diplomatic relations.
“We are engaging the world diplomatically, and we assure all… that we will defeat terrorism…,” he said, before the Federal Executive Council’s closed-door meeting.
It remains unclear whether the Nigerian leader would meet with his American counterpart to clear things up as earlier announced by his aides.
Meanwhile, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, through its Head, Ambassador Gautier Mignot, have expressed support and solidarity with Nigeria, noting that terrorist attacks in the country were not limited to any religion or ethnic group.
“Our position is one of solidarity with Nigeria. Solidarity with the victims of violence, with the authorities working to protect citizens, and with the Nigerian people who overwhelmingly desire peaceful coexistence beyond ethnic and religious divides,” Mignot told NAN (News Agency of Nigeria). “We respect Nigeria’s sovereignty and constitutional commitment to religious neutrality.”
He promised that “the EU was ready to enhance its support in peace, security and defence matters, as well as through dialogue with all stakeholders…”
In the same vein, the African Union “urges external partners, including the United States, to engage Nigeria through diplomatic dialogue, intelligence-sharing, and capacity-building partnerships…,” to tackle terrism.
China has also rejected the US threat of military action against Nigeria, while Russia said, “We are closely monitoring this issue and call on all parties involved to strictly comply with international legal norms.”
For context, Trump’s tweets made no mention of ‘genocide,’ and he did not provide any timeline for the killings.
But some Nigerian clerics and right-wing U.S. Republicans, particularly Texas Senator Ted Cruz, have made more elaborate claims. In a post on his X handle, Cruz said: “Officials in Nigeria are ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists. It’s time to hold those responsible accountable. My Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools.”
Citing figures from Open Doors and other reports, US Congressman Riley Moore claimed that more than 7,000 Christians had been killed in 2025 alone and that “at least 19,100 Churches have been attacked or destroyed since 2009.” While acknowledging that “Nigerians of all faiths faced terrorism,” he said, “Christians are far and away the most targeted for persecution and violence.”
In March this year, Evangelist Ezekiel Dachomo, a regional leader of the Church of Christ in Nations, posted a video of a mass burial of victims of an attack in Heipang community near Jos, Nigeria’s Middle-Belt region.
The clip went viral on social media, and in an interview published by a Nigerian newspaper on 25 March 2025, the Evangelist said, “I made the video for record-keeping so that future generations will be able to see how we were terrorised and persecuted. The video is also evidence that a Christian genocide is going on in the North (of Nigeria).”
That was not the first time that “genocide” or “Christian persecution” claims would be made against Nigeria. In its report early this year, a pro-Christian organization, Open Doors, listed Nigeria as among the “most persecuting countries.” The report claimed that “More believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world.” Other foreign-based religious organisations, such as the ACI, EWTN, and The Tablet, had also expressed concern about the reported persecution of Christians in the country.
On 12 March 2025, the Most Reverend Wilfred Anagbe, the Catholic Bishop of Markudi, in Nigeria’s Central Benue State, took the claim of anti-Christian attacks to the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Africa Subcommittee.
The cleric alleged that: “A long-term, Islamic agenda to homogenize the population has been implemented over several presidencies, through a strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate the Christian identity of half of the population.”
“This strategy includes both violent and non-violent actions, such as the exclusion of Christians from positions of power, the abduction of Church members, the raping of women, the killing and expulsion of Christians, the destruction of churches and farmlands of Christian farmers, followed by the occupation of such lands by Fulani herders. All of this takes place without government interference or reprisals,” he added.
Specifically, Bishop Angbe told the Congress Committee: “I ask you to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. This has both a practical and diplomatic meaning, to signal that you are paying attention to what happens to us.”
“Second, I urge the United States to condition any cooperation on the return of the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) to their ancestral homes and help them to rebuild their lives. I implore this august body to insist on the return and rehabilitation of all IDPs to their ancestral lands, and NOT to relocate them to other constructed camps elsewhere…” the cleric concluded.
Earlier in March 2024, Bishop Anagbe had also told the American Congress that “Christians in Nigeria have for decades been under assault from terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, and most recently, Fulani herdsmen who have perpetrated massacres of Christian communities.”
The Nigerian Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has dismissed these claims and accused some US lawmakers of “relying on inaccurate and misleading data to allege a so-called Christian genocide in Nigeria.”
“Yes, there are Christians being attacked, but these criminals do not target one religion; they attack both Christians and Muslims, especially in the northern part of the country,” Idris said, warning that false narratives could embolden criminal groups.
Beyond politicking, denial, deflection, trading of figures, finger-pointing and a fixation on the categorisation of the killings, the undeniable reality is that Nigeria, like most countries today, has a serious and complex problem of insecurity/terrorism. The problem predates the Tinubu administration, but his government has a duty to address it frontally and effectively, unilaterally or in collaboration/partnership with other countries/stakeholders.
America is one of Nigeria’s major partners in the fight against terrorism, and this partnership should be strengthened, not weakened. In November 2020, U.S. special forces (SEALS), rescued an American citizen, Philip Walton, kidnapped in Nigeria.
Trump’s brash approach and uncomplementary language could be discomforting and irritating. There might be ulterior motives or a hidden agenda behind his unsolicited interventions or ‘meddling.’ But his consequential tweets should be seen more as a wake-up call on Nigerian authorities to rise to their responsibilities.
The American leader is not known for diplomatese. However, Abuja should face the reality so that the U.S. and Nigeria can work as strategic partners for mutual benefits, beginning with the appoinment of a Nigerian envoy to Washington D.C.
The endless killing of Nigerians by Nigerians or foreign insurgents, for whatever reason is unacceptable and must stop.
Nigerians should set aside political, ethnic and religious differences and unite to work collectively for the overall progress and development of their country.
The primary responsibility of any government is the security of life and property, the guarantee of welfare and the protection of citizens’ rights.
By constitution, Nigeria is a secular nation, and every citizen should be free to practice their faith without let or hindrance.
Chapter IV, Section 42 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), prohibits discrimination based on ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion, or political opinion. The same constitution also provides for unfettered justice and government protection of citizens against persecution, and the prompt prosecution of crimes and criminals.
Paul Ejime is a Media/Communications Specialist and Global Affairs Analyst
