Nigeria has rejected what it described as its portrayal as a “religiously intolerant” country, after US President Donald Trump directed the Department of War to prepare for a possible military intervention in Africa’s most populous nation over attacks on Christians by “Islamic terrorists.“Also Read | ‘Guns-a-blazing’: Donald Trump threatens US military action in Nigeria; vows to halt aid over Christian killings“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 beliefs for all Nigerians,” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said in a statement.Nigeria, he added, is a country with “constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.”“Our administration is committed to working with the United States government and the international community to deepen understanding and cooperation on protection of communities of all faiths,” as per the statement.The response came after Trump, in a social media post on Friday, claimed that “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria” and alleged that “radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.” “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. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.Nigeria, with a population of about 220 million—the sixth largest in the world—is roughly evenly split between Christians and Muslims. The country has long grappled with insecurity on multiple fronts, including violence by the extremist group Boko Haram, which seeks to impose its radical interpretation of Islamic law and has targeted both Christians and Muslims it deems “insufficiently devout.”
