United States President, Donald Trump has warned that the US could carry out additional military strikes in Nigeria if attacks on Christians continue, raising fresh concerns over foreign military involvement in the country.
Trump issued the warning during an interview with The New York Times, when asked whether the Christmas Day missile strikes against an Islamic State-affiliated terror group marked the beginning of a broader US military campaign in Nigeria.
According to him, while he would prefer the operation to be a one-off, further strikes remain an option if violence against Christians persists. “I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump said. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
The Christmas Day strikes came about a month after Trump publicly threatened to deploy US troops to Nigeria, vowing that American forces would move in “guns-a-blazing to wipe out the terrorists killing our cherished Christians.” The comments followed repeated claims by some US politicians that Christians were facing genocide in parts of Nigeria.
However, the Nigerian government has maintained that it retains full control over security decisions related to the operation. According to Ademola Oshodi, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Foreign Affairs and Protocol, Nigeria remained firmly in charge of the decision-making process surrounding the strike.
Nigeria has also consistently rejected claims that Christians are being deliberately targeted for extermination. In October, Trump’s senior adviser on Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, stated that extremist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State were killing more Muslims than Christians in the country.
Reacting to his adviser’s remarks, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also victims of violence in Nigeria but insisted that Christians bore the brunt of the attacks. “I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria,” he said. “But it’s mostly Christians.”
The renewed threat of further US strikes has sparked debate over sovereignty, security cooperation, and the true nature of sectarian violence in Africa’s most populous nation.
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