Not content with hinting at regime change in Iran and the annexation of Greenland, US President Donald Trump has indicated he may carry out further military action against Islamic militants in Nigeria.
Last year Trump said he would be designating Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” due to the high rate of anti-Christian killings in the country. On Christmas Day he dramatically upped the ante by launching airstrikes on militant bases in the north of the country, with permission from the Nigerian government.
Despite being around 50 per cent Christian, more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than in all other countries combined. Accurate numbers are hard to come by but estimates vary from between 3,000 and 7,000 killed last year.
Speaking to The New York Times, Trump suggested more US strikes may occur in the country.
"I'd love to make it a one-time strike. But if they continue to kill Christians it will be a many-time strike," he said.
Locals fear that the killings will indeed continue, with some concerned the situation may deteriorate further.
A local partner for religious freedom group, Release International, recently warned: “The increase in persecution stems from the unchecked expansion of jihadist groups, fuelled by ideological opposition to Christianity and Western influence, alongside government inaction and inadequate security responses.
“We foresee heightened risks from cross-border incursions by Sahel-based jihadists spilling into Nigeria and expect more Christians to be martyred, with projections exceeding 2025’s deaths if trends continue. Without swift action, 2026 could see martyrdoms double if global silence persists.”
The Nigerian government says it is doing what it can to address the issue but has been criticised for failing to see the religious dimension to the killings.
In November Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, declared a national emergency and ordered the doubling of police numbers. However, he also appeared to suggest that Christians were also killing Muslims despite no evidence that this occurs in anything but the most isolated of incidents.
It is true that not all the violence in the country is the work of Islamist militia targeting Christian communities. In one recent case, 42 men, both Muslim and Christian, were killed by a gang of bandits, and their women and children abducted.
The apparent difference in attitude between Trump’s pro-Christian stance and Tinubu’s apparently neutral view can be explained in political terms. Trump is keen to shore up his support among Christian and evangelical voters in the US, while Tinubu is president of a country with a sharp religious divide, and so is likely reluctant to be seen as taking sides.
