{"id":102147,"date":"2025-11-06T02:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T02:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102147"},"modified":"2025-11-06T02:10:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T02:10:00","slug":"nigeria-pushes-back-on-trumps-claims-over-christian-killings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102147","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria pushes back on Trump\u2019s claims over Christian killings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 27 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The Nigerian government has dismissed claims made by US President Donald Trump about the persecution of Christians in the West African nation, insisting that religious freedom is fully protected under the country\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n

Responding to a reporter\u2019s question at a news conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar\u00a0held\u00a0up a document whose cover read \u201cNigeria\u2019s Constitutional Commitment to Religious Freedom and Rule of Law\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the answers are in there. This is what guides us,\u201d Tuggar said, speaking alongside Germany\u2019s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. \u201cIt\u2019s impossible for there to be religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuggar\u2019s comments come after Trump wrote on social media on Saturday that if the Nigerian government \u201ccontinues to allow the killing of Christians\u201d, the US would stop all aid to the country. <\/p>\n

Trump added that he had instructed the so-called Department of War \u201cto prepare for possible action\u201d.<\/p>\n

And on Sunday, Trump doubled down, saying Washington could deploy troops or conduct air strikes. \u201cThey are killing a record number of Christians in Nigeria,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are not gonna allow that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The threats came after the US president had redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern \u2013 a label the US government gives to countries seen as responsible for severe violations of religious freedom.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s assertions echo claims that have gained traction among right-wing and Christian evangelical circles in the past months. <\/p>\n

US Senator Ted Cruz, a Trump ally,\u00a0blamed Nigerian officials\u00a0for what he called \u201cChristian massacres\u201d and introduced in September the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, which, he said, aims to hold officials who \u201cfacilitate Islamic Jihadist violence and the imposition of blasphemy laws\u201d accountable.<\/p>\n

While admitting a problem with security issues, Nigerian officials\u00a0rebuked Trump\u2019s claims, saying that people across all faiths, not just Christians, are victims of armed groups\u2019 violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,\u201d said Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, a Muslim from southern Nigeria who is married to a Christian pastor.<\/p>\n

About 238 million people live in Nigeria, Africa\u2019s most populous nation. <\/p>\n

Around 46 per cent of the population is Muslim, largely residing in the north, and about 46 per cent are Christian, mostly located in the south, according to the\u00a0Association of Religion Data Archives.<\/p>\n

For more than a decade, Boko Haram and other armed groups have clashed in the northeast, forcing millions of people from their homes. <\/p>\n

Since Tinubu took power two years ago, pledging stronger security, more than 10,000 people have been killed there,\u00a0according to\u00a0Amnesty International.<\/p>\n

In the centre, there are increasing attacks on predominantly Christian farming communities by herders from the rival Fulani pastoral ethnic group, which is predominantly Muslim. <\/p>\n

The attacks there are mostly over access to water and pasture.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"NigeriaThe Nigerian government has dismissed claims made by US President Donald Trump about the persecution of Christians in the West African nation, insisting that religious freedom is fully protected under the country\u2019s constitution.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1972,11984,1300,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-christian-killings","category-nigeria","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}