United States (US) President Donald Trump has warned that Washington could mount additional military strikes in Nigeria should attacks on Christian communities persist.
In an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, Trump was asked about a US air strike conducted on Christmas Day against militants in north-west Nigeria.
The president, reiterating his broader narrative that Christians are the principal victims of extremist violence in the country, said he would prefer the operation to be a “one-time strike” but added that “if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
The Christmas Day operation, confirmed by the US military, targeted fighters linked to the Islamic State (Daesh) in Sokoto State and was described by Washington as having been carried out at the request of the Nigerian government.
Nigerian government, however, revealed the action was a joint counter-terrorism measure and rejected any suggestion it was undertaken on a religious basis.
“It had nothing to do with a particular religion,” officials said.
Trump’s comments come amid continued debate over religiously framed violence in Nigeria, where Islamist insurgents such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have conducted attacks against civilian populations.
While the president acknowledged that Muslims have also been killed, he maintained his view that Christians are disproportionately affected.
Nigeria’s population of more than 230 million people is roughly evenly divided between Christians, who are predominantly in the south, and Muslims, largely in the north.
The Nigerian government has consistently rejected accusations of systematic persecution of Christians.
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