Overview
- The U.S. State Department has re-listed Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern for religious-freedom violations.
- President Donald Trump threatened to halt U.S. aid and said he directed the Defense Department to prepare options for potential action, with CNN reporting a recall of some U.S. Africa Command personnel.
- Nigeria’s government dismissed the designation as based on misinformation and faulty data, asserting the violence is terrorism and criminality affecting Christians and Muslims, and saying cooperation must respect its sovereignty.
- Amnesty International and independent conflict data indicate only a small share of attacks are explicitly religiously motivated, with victims across faiths and casualty claims by some advocacy groups contested.
- China’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a wanton threat of force by the U.S., as analysts warned of legal and political constraints on any unilateral military move.