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Trump warns of additional U.S. military strikes in Nigeria if attacks on Christians continue
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U.S. president says December Christmas Day strike may not be a one-off
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Nigerian government insists Abuja retains control and rejects claims of religious targeting
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has warned that the U.S. may carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if attacks against Christians persist.
Trump made the statement during an interview with The New York Times, while responding to questions on whether the Christmas Day missile strikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Nigeria signalled the start of a broader military campaign.
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The U.S. president said he would prefer the operation to remain a one-time action but stressed that continued killings could trigger repeated strikes.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike.
But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike,” Trump said.
The recent strike came about a month after Trump publicly threatened to deploy U.S. troops to Nigeria, vowing they would move in “guns-a-blazing” to eliminate terrorists allegedly targeting Christians.
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Trump’s comments followed repeated claims by some U.S. politicians that Christians were facing genocide in Nigeria — an assertion the Nigerian government has consistently rejected.
Reacting to the development, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Foreign Affairs and Protocol, Ademola Oshodi, said Nigeria was fully involved in the process leading to the military operation and maintained that Abuja retained decision-making authority over the strike.
Despite this clarification, Trump suggested that further military action remained possible if the situation did not improve.
The Nigerian government has repeatedly stated that the country’s security challenges affect citizens of all religions, not Christians alone.
In October, Trump’s senior adviser on Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, disclosed that extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP had killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria.
Responding to his adviser’s remarks, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also victims of violence but insisted that Christians were disproportionately affected.
“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria, but it’s mostly Christians,” he said.
