Overview
- President Trump reinstated Nigeria’s Country of Particular Concern status and ordered the Pentagon to prepare possible action, warning of aid cuts or strikes if killings of Christians persist.
- The State Department signaled readiness to cooperate with Abuja, as reporting indicated AFRICOM drafted options ranging from support to Nigerian forces to potential drone strikes or a carrier deployment.
- President Bola Tinubu and senior officials rejected claims of a targeted ‘Christian genocide,’ arguing Nigeria’s violence cuts across faiths and includes insurgency, banditry and communal conflicts.
- New army chief Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu pledged intensified operations in Borno, telling troops the military will provide new support and push harder against Boko Haram and ISWAP.
- Nigerian civil society groups protested the U.S. posture as an affront to sovereignty, and local leaders warned that framing the crisis as religious persecution risks derailing fragile interfaith peacebuilding.