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Responding to these claims, Trump designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” for religious freedom violations. He wrote: “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”
Nigeria’s government rejected the genocide label. Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar said, “For the avoidance of any doubt, and out of respect for all the victims and survivors around the world of this unique and appalling crime against humanity, let the record show that there is no genocide, now or ever, in Nigeria.”
Earlier under Trump, Nigeria had been on a US religious-freedom watchlist. That designation was removed during the Biden administration. Trump’s latest move signals a renewed hard-line stance by the United States toward Nigeria’s human-rights record.
Observers note that while Christian communities in Nigeria face brutal violence — one report estimated more than 7,000 deaths in the first 220 days of 2025 — the situation remains complex. The violence also involves herder-farmer land clashes, ethnic tensions and insurgencies. Some analysts caution against labeling the crisis purely as a religious genocide.
Nevertheless, evangelical Christian groups and U.S. lawmakers are treating it as a dire threat to the faith’s survival in Nigeria. The American warning now puts enormous pressure on Nigeria’s leadership. Washington’s message is clear: stop the killings or risk drastic consequences.
If Nigeria does not act swiftly and decisively, it could face deep cuts in U.S. assistance or even risk direct U.S. involvement. The ultimatum stands: the response will be “fast, vicious, and sweet.”
