By Ademola Adekusibe
November 3, 2025.
United States President Donald Trump has said he is not ruling out air strikes or deployment of troops to Nigeria as part of his plan to “completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists killing Christians in Nigeria.”
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said the United States “can no longer afford to look the other way,” adding that Nigeria’s government must “move fast” or risk losing all forms of US aid and assistance.
“They are killing record numbers of Christians in Nigeria. It’s also bad in other countries, you know that,” he said. “They are killing Christians in very large numbers. We are not going to allow that to happen.”
Trump’s comments come days after he redesignated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern (CPC)” over alleged persecution of Christians and reports of religiously motivated killings.
When asked if military intervention such as “boots on the ground” or “air strikes” was being considered, the US president responded, “Yes, there could be.” He further described any potential US offensive as “fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs that attack our cherished Christians.”
The Nigerian government has, however, dismissed the genocide narrative. Responding to Trump’s remarks, President Bola Tinubu reiterated that Nigeria remains a democracy governed by constitutional guarantees of religious liberty.
“Since 2023, our administration has maintained an open and active engagement with Christian and Muslim leaders alike and continues to address security challenges which affect citizens across faiths and regions,” Tinubu said in a statement on November 1.
“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians.”
Tinubu maintained that “religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so.”
Meanwhile, Daniel Bwala, special adviser to the president on policy communication, said on Saturday that Trump and Tinubu are expected to meet “in the coming days” to discuss the issue.
