United States President, Donald Trump, has acknowledged that Muslims are also being killed in Nigeria, while maintaining that Christians remain the primary victims of violence in the country.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times, published on the newspaper’s website on Thursday, when asked about Washington’s Christmas Day military strike in Nigeria.
The U.S. military had earlier announced that it carried out the strike against Islamic State militants operating in northwest Nigeria, saying the operation was conducted at the request of the Nigerian government.
The strike reportedly targeted elements of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group of Boko Haram blamed for years of violence across northern Nigeria.
During the interview, Trump was asked to respond to statements previously attributed to his Africa adviser, who had said that extremist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State were killing more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria.
Responding, Trump said, “I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.”
Reacting to Trump’s comments, former Nigerian presidential candidate and human rights activist, Mr Omoyele Sowore, dismissed the Christian genocide narrative as deliberate and manipulative.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday, Sowore accused Trump of using religion as an emotional tool to justify foreign military and economic interests.
“Emperor @realDonaldTrump wakes up, intoxicated by U.S. military power, scans the globe, and fixes his gaze on any part of the earth rich in oil or so-called rare earth minerals, wherever his bread can best be buttered,” Sowore wrote.
He added, “From that place of imperial loneliness, he decides to invade. The narrative used to justify it is secondary; even then, it only needs to match the gullibility of the intended audience.”
Sowore said he had consistently argued that claims of a Nigerian Christian genocide were not rooted in objective reality but were carefully crafted to exploit religious sentiment and mobilise political support, particularly among conservative audiences in the United States.
“I have always maintained that the Nigerian ‘Christian genocide’ narrative is a calculated ruse, crafted to occupy a popular emotional space. It worked wonders!” he said.
The activist further questioned Trump’s moral authority to speak on Christian values, insisting that the former U.S. president did not embody the principles of the Christian faith he often invoked.
“The truth is that @realDonaldTrump does not serve the God of the Christian Bible. He does not love his neighbor as himself,” Sowore stated.
He also accused Trump of lacking compassion even for his own citizens.
“As we now know, he doesn’t care about his fellow Americans so long as they don’t toe his warped line of reasoning.
“He loves only himself and his account balance. Everything else is theatre.”
