The Nigerian government on Tuesday rejected allegations of religious persecution following threats by former US President Donald Trump to consider military action over the alleged killing of Christians in the country.
“There can’t be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar said at a press conference in Berlin, Germany.
The statement marked the first official reaction from a senior Nigerian official since Trump’s comments on Sunday.
Over the weekend, Trump wrote on social media that he had asked the Pentagon to “map out a possible plan of attack” against Nigeria, claiming without evidence that “they’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers.”
Responding, Tuggar reaffirmed that Nigeria remains “constitutionally committed to religious freedom and the rule of law.”
“What we are trying to make the world understand is that we should not create another Sudan,” Tuggar warned, drawing parallels with the prolonged conflict in Sudan. “We’ve seen what happened when a country was divided along religious or ethnic lines, the crisis continued even after partition.”
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is nearly evenly split between a predominantly Muslim north and Christian south. The country faces multiple overlapping security crises — including jihadist insurgencies, banditry, and communal violence — which experts say affect both Christians and Muslims indiscriminately.
Despite this, claims of systemic persecution of Christians in Nigeria have gained traction among right-wing groups in the United States and Europe in recent months.
Trump has not proposed dividing Nigeria but alleged that “thousands of Christians are being killed” and that “radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”
The Nigerian government has repeatedly denied such claims, insisting that violence in the country is driven more by socio-economic and ethnic factors than by religion.
Two days earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement reaffirming Nigeria’s constitutional protections for all citizens, regardless of faith.
“Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it,” ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa said. “Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths. Like America, Nigeria has no option but to celebrate the diversity that is our greatest strength.”
