Overview
- Posting on Truth Social, the U.S. president warned he would halt all American aid if Nigeria "continues to permit" killings of Christians.
- He said he ordered the "Department of War" to prepare for a possible operation targeting Islamist terrorists he blamed for atrocities.
- A day earlier, his administration placed Nigeria on the U.S. Country of Particular Concern list for religious freedom violations.
- President Bola Tinubu and other Nigerian officials deny systematic persecution of Christians and reject the characterization of the country as religiously intolerant.
- ACLED data cited by analysts records 52,915 civilians killed in politically targeted violence since 2009 and documents attacks on both Christians and Muslims, challenging claims of up to 100,000 Christian deaths.