Christians are being slaughtered by the thousands across Nigeria—and the world is waking up to the bloodshed. President Donald Trump has ripped Nigeria’s government out of diplomatic denials by restoring its place on the U.S. list of “Countries of Particular Concern” for religious freedom. This is a decisive blow to any regime that tolerates genocide.
Yet Nigerian President Bola Tinubu insists the violence “does not reflect our national reality.” He claims his administration protects all faiths. His words ring hollow against a backdrop of mass graves and burning villages.
Ethnic Fulani militias and Boko Haram terrorists operate with impunity. They torch Christian communities, kidnap women and children, and butcher men in broad daylight. Local police stand by—or join in.
Tinubu’s top adviser now says the president will meet Trump “in the coming days.” Expect no apologies. Instead, Tinubu will attempt to smooth over the world’s outrage and preserve U.S. military aid.
Trump’s move is unambiguous: cut off aid if Nigeria continues its tolerance of jihadist terror. He has threatened to intervene “guns-a-blazing” if killings persist. This is the kind of muscle America must wield to protect the persecuted.
Governors in Nigeria’s Middle Belt have already launched vigilante patrols to defend Christians. They’ve been forced to fill the security vacuum left by an absent federal response. Their efforts speak louder than Tinubu’s denials.
Human rights observers document coordinated campaigns to displace entire Christian populations. Villages are razed, church leaders targeted, farmland seized. This is textbook genocide, and it demands a forceful international reaction.
The Tinubu government’s refusal to name the perpetrators—or even label the carnage as religiously motivated—reveals complicity at the highest levels. Behind a veneer of pluralism, an Islamist agenda advances.
America must apply relentless pressure. Aid must be conditional. Arms sales must be suspended until Nigeria proves it will protect Christians as zealously as it defends its borders.
Religious freedom is not negotiable. It is a cornerstone of Western civilization. When a government looks the other way as jihadists kill innocents, it forfeits its claim to partnership.
President Trump’s designation is more than a reprimand—it’s a lifeline to Nigeria’s beleaguered Christians. The United States will not stand idly by while an entire faith is driven toward extinction.
The coming meeting between Trump and Tinubu will test whether America’s resolve can force real change. There is no room for half-measures. Justice demands nothing less than a full-scale commitment to end this horror.
