President Donald Trump says Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria. And because of that, he has just the plan to stop it all: invading the country “guns-a-blazing” with swift military intervention. But some folks online suspect there’s something way more sinister at play than just trying to save Bible believers.
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We previously reported how on Nov. 1, Trump threatened military action in Nigeria because the country is of “particular concern” on Truth Social. Alleging that Christians are being “mass slaughtered” by “radical Islamists,” he threatened that America would not idly stand by and is, “ready, willing, and able to save our great Christian population around the world!”
Countries that are also allegedly conducting religious persecution includes Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, according to The Guardian. But what does the data say? The outlet reports Nigeria is nearly evenly divided between 53% Muslims and 45% Christians. In parts of the country, the outlet says deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians is really about securing land and water, and not religious or ethnic differences.
However, several reports of Christian pastors being kidnapped for ransom has been reported in the country of more than 236 million people, including Rev. James Audu Issa of the Evangelical Church Winning All. The Christian Post reported he was kidnapped in August and killed in October despite his community paying a five million naira ransom. John Joseph Hayab, a pastor who leads the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), said he’s presided over numerous persecuted Christians’ mass burials, CNN reported.
And in 2012, Islamist group Boko Haram, who reportedly kidnapped 276 schoolgirls, issued an ultimatum to Christians in the northern region to leave while calling on Muslims to “come back” north.
But some folks say Trump threatening military action in Nigeria isn’t just about protecting Christian values, at all.
The Nigerian government has adamantly denied Trump’s claims that it is not doing enough to protect Christians from violence, according to CNN. “We are shocked that President Trump is mulling an invasion of our country,” Nigerian presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga told the outlet after Trump instructed the Pentagon for possible military action.
Additionally, Trump, CNN said, has threatened to stop any and all US aid to Nigeria if its government doesn’t stop the killings of Christians, warning that the elimination of “Islamic Terrorists” would not only be “fast,” but “vicious,” too.
And some folks online are taking notice, alluding that Trump really has ulterior motives.
“Isn’t it a little suspicious that ALL of the countries Trump wants us to go to war with are oil rich? Iran, Venezuela, now Nigeria,” one user wrote on X.
Another X user said that, “Nigerians know that Donald Trump doesn’t care about Nigerians. There’s a gain America is rooting for.”
“Only an absolute moron would think he wants to invade Nigeria to “defend the Nigerian Christians”. Blatantly obvious there’s some kind of resource in Nigeria than [sic] he wants,” someone else argued.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer who holds the continent’s largest proven natural gas reserves, possesses significant resources like crude oil and lithium– a high-demand mineral for batteries and electronics manufacturing.
“Nigeria has the oil, but we can’t refine it to build wealth,” one user said. “There’s fuel scarcity from time to time, it still doesn’t come cheap, and we still loose our citizens to incessant killings. So yes, please let the U.S come help out with a part of our problems and take the oil.”
A fifth person speculated on X America is also “coming for that Gold in Zamfara.”
Nigeria was first named as a CPC, a “country of politican concern,” in 2020 during Trump’s first administration, but was removed in 2021 by the Biden administration. Now, per the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), Nigeria has been deemed a country that has “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
“President Trump’s threats should be seen as a step meant to create both fear and hope. Fear for the government and hope for the Christians,” Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nigeria told Newsweek. “However, we know that the issues are not simply black and white.”
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