The U.S. is drafting a proposal that includes weighing possible military engagement in Nigeria, a senior State Department official said this week.
The discussion comes weeks after President Donald Trump threatened military action in Africa’s most populous country over the alleged persecution of Christians by Islamic insurgent groups.
The Trump administration may also choose to escalate its pressure campaign by less dramatic means, including through imposing sanctions, Jonathan Pratt, a senior bureau official for African Affairs at the State Department, testified to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The White House casts its overall objective as safeguarding religious liberties.
“The Trump administration is developing a plan to incentivize and compel the Nigerian government to better protect Christian communities and improve religious freedom,” Pratt said Thursday. “This plan will consider U.S. State and Treasury engagement on sanctions, as well as possible Department of War engagement on counterterrorism and other efforts to protect religious communities.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine held high-level talks with a Nigerian delegation — led by its national security adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu — late Thursday evening at the Pentagon.
Hegseth emphasized the need for Nigeria to “demonstrate commitment” and “take both urgent and enduring” action to quell the violence against Christians, according to a Department of Defense readout.
The White House asserts the president has “made his position clear” on the complex situation in the West African country, which has long suffered violence at the hands of terrorist groups and violent extremists.
“I think Nigerians have an opportunity to deepen and strengthen their relationship with the United States if they will prioritize the protection of these communities,” Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) said at a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa hearing this week. “Of course, non-Christians are being killed too. [We’re] not saying that’s not happening, but there is a systematic, targeted campaign that’s happening here.”
Trump, in a Truth Social post earlier this month, said if Nigeria does not halt the alleged persecution of Christians, he may send troops “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,” the president wrote at the time. “If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!”
Nigeria has denied the accusations of persecution, and called the Trump administration’s characterization of events a “gross misrepresentation of reality.”
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu insists there is religious tolerance, while acknowledging security challenges in the country affect citizens “across faiths and regions.”
Tinubu said he is committed to working with the U.S. and international community to protect communities of all faiths in Nigeria.
