Nigeria rejects Trump's claim of Christian genocide

ABUJA, Nigeria (Running Africa) — Trump, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, alleged that radical Islamists were carrying out “mass slaughter” of Christians and threatened U.S. military intervention if the killings continued. He wrote:

“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. I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action.”

Earlier this month, a church in Jos, Nigeria was hit by a bomb attack

In response, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the accusations, stressing that the country’s security crisis is driven by terrorism and criminality—not religion.

“The claim that Christians are being systematically targeted is false,” said ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa in an interview with Al Jazeera. “The killings are not restricted to Christians alone. Muslims are being killed. Traditional worshippers are being killed. The majority is not the Christian population.”

Ebienfa added that Nigeria remains committed to partnering with international allies to counter terrorism across the Sahel and Lake Chad regions.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu also denounced Trump’s remarks, describing them as “a gross misrepresentation of Nigeria’s reality.” He emphasized that the West African nation upholds religious freedom and coexistence among its citizens.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with over 220 million people, is almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. Extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) have long targeted civilians through killings, abductions, and sexual violence, fueling insecurity across the north.