President Trump’s promise to protect persecuted Christians in Nigeria has put Abuja on the back foot and made Africa’s most populous country an unexpected target of the president.
Trump threatened to mobilize US troops against Islamic militants who killed Christians over the weekend, blaming Nigeria’s leaders for failing to tackle the problem and labeling it a country of particular concern (CPC) because of religious violence.
The designation compels the President to consult with the designated government, drafting a foreign policy action plan consult congress Regarding implementation – within 90 days.
Trump also threatened to cut off aid and assistance to Nigeria barring meaningful action.
Here’s what to know
The Christian Right has lobbied for the CPC designation.
The CPC designation is a victory for advocates who have conducted an intense lobbying campaign calling for U.S. action to protect Christians in Nigeria.
“It was unexpected, even to the point where it felt like a reversal,” said Nina Shea, senior fellow and director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, who met with administration officials late last month.
“There was no decision at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, there was a decision, there was really no anticipation as to whether he would designate it or when he would designate it, although, under the law, he had to do so by the end of the year.”
Shea helped lead a group of more than 30 advocates, Christian organizations and conservative think-tanks to send a letter to the administration on October 15 demanding Nigeria be designated a CPC. It was the pinnacle of celebrity advocacy comedian bill maher and Grammy-nominated musician Nicki Minaj.
In response to Trump, Minaj wrote on social media site X, “Thank you to the President and his team for taking this seriously.” 31st October The decision to label Nigeria CPC. US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz invited Minaj to discuss the issue when she was in New York City.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has been one of the loudest voices lobbying in Congress on behalf of Nigeria’s Christians, introducing a bill in September that would sanction Nigerian officials deemed involved in the violence.
When announcing the new designation, Trump asked Representative Riley Moore (R-W.Va.), an outspoken advocate for Nigerian Christians, to look into additional measures the US could take and report back to me.
Threat of military intervention raises concerns
Trump’s threat of military action goes further than what some advocates were pushing for, but it comes as he has suggested armed intervention in South America targeting drug cartels.
“If the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the United States will immediately cease all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and go into that disgraced country ‘guns-blazing’ to completely eliminate the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrific atrocities,” Trump. Posted on Truth Social On 1 November.
Richard Ghazal, executive director of In Defense of Christians (IDC), said Trump’s “mention of kinetic operations worries me a little.”
Ghazal said he believes the president is drawing a line between actions that threaten the stability of the Nigerian government and action against terrorist groups.
Ghazal met with other conservative groups and Christian organizations. Administration officials on October 29There is a push to designate Nigeria as a CPC to prompt the Nigerian government to take stronger action.
Ghazal further said, “I am not a hawk, I hate the idea of war.” “I think this should absolutely be the last resort, we want this to be the last resort. We hope the Nigerian government will allow the world to move on and not even have to think about it because they take care of their issue domestically, because that’s their job as a sovereign government.”
Advocates for the safety of Christians in Nigeria say Boko Haram and other Islamic terrorist groups are just one aspect of the significant threats facing Christians in the country.
The Nigerian government’s enforcement of Islamic blasphemy laws, which carry the death penalty and harsh prison sentences, affects citizens of different religions, advocates say. His letter of 15 October,
“Terrorist Fulani Muslim herdsmen” attack Christians with impunity, the letter said. “it [Abuja] There is a failure to investigate the organizational structure of the Fulanis and identify who is arming them,” it added.
“Authorities do not enforce the country’s gun ban against the Fulani. They do not act to reclaim stolen farms for their Christian owners, who are instead consigned to poverty in internally displaced camps who receive little, if any, government assistance. They rarely arrest and never convict Fulanis who attack Christians. Even when receiving warnings of impending Fulani attacks, government security forces routinely Are generally unresponsive or ineffective.”
Christians have faced ‘violence and danger’ for years
Analysts say Nigeria’s majority Muslim population has also faced violence and killing at the hands of Islamic extremists operating in the country. But there is no doubt that Christian communities have suffered huge losses.
Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), a Dutch-based charity advocating religious freedom on the continent, Preliminary findings released documenting attacks on civilians in July and Christians in Nigeria between 2019 and 2024.
ORFA said that of the 36,056 civilian deaths, the Fulani ethnic militia (FEM) was responsible for 47 percent of civilian killings, more than five times the combined death toll of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, which together were responsible for only 11 percent of civilian deaths.
The group said 2.4 Christians were killed for every Muslim during this period. In the states where the attacks occurred, Christians were murdered at a rate 5.2 times higher than Muslims, relative to their population size.
Open Doors, an international organization dedicated to helping Christians, said in its 2025 World Watch List report that “little” has changed for Christians in Nigeria, particularly those living in the Muslim-majority north, who are enduring “violence and threats to their faith.”
It documented the killing of 3,100 Christians and the abduction of 2,830, but cautioned that those numbers should be understood as minimum figures as many incidents go unrecorded.
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu responded to Trump’s threats on Saturday, saying the country is “governed by the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.”
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been and will always remain the core tenets of our collective identity. Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it,” he said said in a statement,
“Our Administration is committed to working with the United States Government and the international community to deepen understanding and cooperation on the safety of communities of all faiths.”
