Trump Threatens Nigeria With Military  11/03 06:13

   

   ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he's 
ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria 
as he stepped up his allegations that the government is failing to rein in the 
persecution of Christians in the West African country.

   The president also warned that he "will immediately stop all aid and 
assistance to Nigeria."

   "If the 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," 
Trump posted on social media. "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!"

   Asked by reporters Sunday on Air Force One whether that could mean sending 
U.S. troops into the country, or striking Nigeria from the air, Trump was 
non-committal. "Could be," he said. "They're killing the Christians and killing 
them in very large numbers. We're not going to allow that to happen."

   Trump's warning came after Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu earlier on 
Saturday pushed back on Trump announcing a day earlier that he was designating 
the West African country "a country of particular concern" for allegedly 
failing to rein in the persecution of Christians.

   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.

   "Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective 
identity and shall always remain so," Tinubu said. "Nigeria opposes religious 
persecution and does not encourage it. Nigeria is a country with constitutional 
guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths."

   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 U.S. Sen. 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.

   Attacks in Nigeria have varying motives. There are religiously motivated 
ones targeting both Christians and Muslims, clashes between farmers and herders 
over dwindling resources, communal rivalries, secessionist groups and ethnic 
clashes.

   While Christians are among those targeted, analysts say the majority of 
victims of armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria's Muslim-majority north, where 
most attacks occur.

   Kimiebi Ebienfa, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
reiterated the commitment of Nigeria to protect citizens of all religions.

   "The Federal Government of Nigeria will continue to defend all citizens, 
irrespective of race, creed, or religion," Ebienfa said in a statement on 
Saturday. "Like America, Nigeria has no option but to celebrate the diversity 
that is our greatest strength."

   Nigeria was placed on the country of particular concern list by the U.S. for 
the first time in 2020 over what the State Department called "systematic 
violations of religious freedom." The designation, which did not single out 
attacks on Christians, was lifted in 2023 in what observers saw as a way to 
improve ties between the countries ahead of then-Secretary of State Antony 
Blinken's visit.