Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, a Muslim whose wife is a Christian pastor, has said he is committed to working with the US and international community to protect all faiths. (Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth met a top Nigerian security official to reinforce the Trump administration’s claim that Christians in the West African country have been singled out for “horrific violence.”
“Under @POTUS leadership, DOW is working aggressively with Nigeria to end the persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists,” Hegseth said in a post on X Friday, using the acronym for Department of War, as the administration calls it.
Hegseth, according to a Defense Department statement, met at the Pentagon on Thursday with Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s national security adviser, and “discussed ways to make tangible progress on stopping violence against Christians in Nigeria and combating West African jihadist terrorist groups.”
President Donald Trump has threatened military action against Islamist militants in the country if its government doesn’t do more to protect Christians from armed marauders.
Organized atrocities against civilians punctuate Nigeria’s long history of ethnic discord, and Muslims as well as Christians have been victims. But the notion of Christians being singled out for persecution eventually took root in right wing circles.
“Nigeria is a disgrace. The whole thing is a disgrace,” Trump said in a radio program on Friday. “They’re killing people by the thousands. It’s a genocide, and I’m really angry about it. And we pay, you know, we give a lot of subsidy to Nigeria. We’re going to end up stopping.”
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, a Muslim whose wife is a Christian pastor, has said he is committed to working with the US and international community to protect all faiths. But “the characterization of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,” he added.
Even as Nigerian officials reject the persecution claim, Trump, his allies and others pursue it.
Earlier this week, the rap performer Nicki Minaj appeared at the United Nations alongside US Ambassador Mike Waltz to amplify the false claims.
Representative Riley Moore, a West Virginia Republican, met with Ribadu on Wednesday, according to a statement from his office.
“I made it crystal clear that the United States must see tangible steps to ensure that Christians are not subject to violence, persecution, displacement, and death simply for believing in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” he said in the statement.
With assistance from Courtney McBride and Michelle Jamrisko.
