In his announcement, Trump said the strikes were aimed at Islamic State militants who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries! A Defense Department official told the Associated Press that the US worked with Nigeria to carry out the strikes, and that they'd been approved by that country's government.
Trump's rhetoric risks recasting criminal violence and state failure as a religious war with devastating consequences for civilians. In early November, United States President Donald Trump declared that Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. In a series of posts on his Truth Social platform, he accused radical Islamists of mass slaughter and warned that the US may very well go into that now disgraced country, guns-a-blazing.
Amid reports of gunfire and civilians scampering to safety in the economic capital, Cotonou, Beninese and others across the region waited with bated breath as conflicting intelligence emerged. The small group of putschists, on the one hand, declared victory, but Benin's forces and government officials said the plot had failed. By evening, the situation was clear Benin's government was still standing.
President Tinubu has nominated former military chief Christopher Musa as the new defense minister Musa was sacked as chief of defense staff in October He will replace Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned as defense minister on Monday The leadership shakeup comes as Nigeria faces a fresh wave of mass kidnappings Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has nominated the country's former top general, who he forced out in October, as the new minister of defense. Christopher Musa will need to be confirmed by the senate
The early Friday raid on St Mary's co-educational school in Niger state in western Nigeria came after gunmen on Monday stormed a secondary school in neighbouring Kebbi state, abducting 25 girls. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had earlier reported 227 people seized, but the new number came after a verification exercise that concluded 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted. The number of boys and girls aged between eight and 18 years kidnapped from St Mary's is almost half the school's student population of 629.
A court in Nigeria on Thursday convicted Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of a separatist group, on charges related to terrorism. Kanu founded the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separatist group that called for independence from Nigeria. "His intention was quite clear as he believed in violence. These threats of violence were nothing but terrorist acts," judge James Omotosho said at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The conviction came after a long-running trial, with the case going back to comments made in 2015.
If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, guns-a-blazing, to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities. I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!
announcing that his administration had designated Nigeria a "Country of Particular Concern" due to the alleged "mass slaughter" of Christians at the hands of "radical Islamists" in the West African nation. "Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God," Minaj wrote in her post. "Thank you to The President & his team for taking this seriously."
Nigeria has faced two decades of escalating violence perpetrated by armed groups whether terrorists or criminal gangs resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and more than 3.5 million people displaced from their homes. Between May 2023 and May 2025 alone, over 10,000 people were killed, according to Amnesty International. Victims have included both Christians and Muslims, the Nigerian government says.