Aletho News

Nigeria rebuffs Trump’s persecution narrative despite US coordination

Press TV – December 26, 2025

The United States has launched airstrikes in northwest Nigeria, with President Donald Trump casting the attack as a response to alleged anti-Christian violence—an assertion Nigerian authorities and analysts have long rejected as a misleading pretext for military action.

The strikes, which Trump announced late Thursday, were presented as a blow against an African branch of Daesh, which he said had carried out large-scale violence against Christians in Nigeria.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS terrorist scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even centuries!” Trump said on social media.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the attacks targeted Sokoto State and were carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities.

“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by airstrikes in the North West,” the ministry said in a post on X, while not confirming Washington’s claim of persecution of Christians.

Last month, Trump had spoken about his country’s intention to attack Nigeria, saying the US “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” against his “cherished Christians!”

The cooperation comes despite repeated objections from Nigerian officials to framing the country’s security crisis as religious persecution.

Authorities have said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians and that US claims of systematic anti-Christian violence oversimplify a complex conflict driven by criminality, local grievances and long-standing instability.

Last month, Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said the characterization of Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country did not reflect reality.

“The characterization 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 religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” he said.

Nigeria is roughly divided between a mostly Muslim north and a mostly Christian south. Analysts say Nigeria’s situation has long roots in the region’s history. In some parts of the country, Muslim herders and Christian farmers compete over land and water.

Another pretext for the US conducting strikes against Nigeria is the increasing kidnappings of priests and pastors for ransom. However, experts suggest this trend is motivated more by criminal gain than religious discrimination, as these religious leaders are seen as influential figures whose followers or organizations can quickly raise funds.

While human rights groups have urged the Nigerian government to do more to address unrest in the country, which has experienced deadly attacks by Boko Haram and other armed groups, experts say that claims of a “Christian genocide” are false and simplistic.

Trump, who positioned himself as the “candidate of peace” in 2024, campaigned on the promise of extraditing the US from decades of “endless wars”. However his first year back in the White House has been notable for the number of military interventions overseas, with strikes on Yemen, Iran, Syria and others, as well as a huge military buildup in the Caribbean targeting Venezuela.

December 26, 2025 - Posted by aletho | Militarism | Africa, Nigeria, United States