Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Gabriel Osa
For the first time since spotlighting security challenges in Nigeria, U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly acknowledged that Muslims are also being killed amid the country’s ongoing violence, while continuing to assert that Christians remain the principal targets of attacks. In an interview published by The New York Times, Trump addressed questions about the humanitarian impact of conflict and U.S. military action in Nigeria, signaling a subtle shift in his public narrative even as he doubles down on concerns over threats against Christian communities.
Discussing the complex security situation, Trump said: “I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.” The remark came as he addressed reports that Islamist extremist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State affiliates have claimed numerous lives, including among Muslim populations in Nigeria’s northern regions.
The interview also touched on the U.S. military’s Christmas Day strikes in north‑west Nigeria targeting extremist groups. Asked about whether further action could follow that operation, Trump reiterated his warning: “I’d love to make it a one‑time strike … But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many‑time strike.” His comments underscore a policy stance linking future U.S. military involvement to the perceived protection of Christian communities.
Trump’s acknowledgement that Muslims are among the victims in Nigeria represents a departure from earlier public comments that focused almost exclusively on violence against Christians. Analysts note that while extremist attacks have indeed killed Christians, independent monitoring organisations report that the majority of victims in the country’s jihadist insurgency have been Muslim, particularly in the predominantly Muslim north where groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) operate.
The president’s position follows a pattern of rhetoric and policy actions over the past months. In late October 2025, Trump designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern under U.S. law, alleging systemic failures in protecting Christians and warning of diplomatic and military consequences if violence continued. He had insisted that Christianity in Nigeria faced an “existential threat” from extremist violence.
Those assertions drew pushback from Nigerian officials, who emphasised that the country’s security challenges affect people of all faiths and communities and rejected claims of targeted persecution solely against Christians. The Nigerian government repeatedly highlighted that violence in the country — including attacks by armed groups, communal clashes, and criminal gangs — kills civilians across religious lines and is not rooted exclusively in targeted religious persecution.
Beyond rhetoric, the Christmas Day strikes marked a notable moment in U.S.–Nigeria security cooperation. According to reports, American forces conducted air and naval operations against militants in Sokoto State, actions described by both U.S. and Nigerian authorities as part of counter‑terrorism efforts against extremist organisations operating within Nigerian territory. While the strikes were framed by Trump around the protection of Christian communities, official Nigerian statements stressed that joint action was aimed at disrupting violent extremist networks more broadly.
The acknowledgment that Muslims also fall victim to violence in Nigeria reinforces long‑standing observations from human rights and conflict monitoring organisations, which have documented that extremist violence impacts civilians irrespective of religion and that many of the conflict’s deadliest incidents have occurred in Muslim‑majority regions of the country.
As Trump continues to link U.S. foreign policy to the protection of religious communities, his remarks reflect a broader debate about how best to address Nigeria’s multifaceted security crisis — one that encompasses insurgency, banditry, communal conflict, and criminal kidnappings, afflicting both Christians and Muslims alike.
The evolving narrative also illustrates the tensions between political framing and on‑the‑ground realities in Nigeria, where religious identity intersects with geographic, economic, and ethnic fault lines, shaping a complex and often deadly security landscape that defies simple categorisation.
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