U.S. Threats Over Christian Killings Don’t Assist, Nigeria Says

[ad_1] Nigeria has drawn a hyperlink between U.S. threats of assaults on Islamists over allegations of Christian genocide and up to date kidnappings of a whole lot of schoolgirls.

“There's a correlation between the current statements and the kidnapping of woman college students in two totally different places, as a result of then the terrorists need to use them as human shields,” Nigerian Overseas Minister Yusuf Tuggar advised Newsweek on the sidelines of the Doha Discussion board in Qatar when requested in regards to the threats.

Requested if the threats had inspired the kidnappings, he stated: “I will allow you to make the conclusion.”

Newsweek contacted the U.S. State Division for remark.

President Donald Trump final month issued an ultimatum to Africa’s most populous nation to cease the "killing of Christians" by Islamist teams and warned that the U.S. navy may go in "guns-a-blazing" to assault them. Amongst these cheering Trump’s feedback was musician Nicki Minaj.

<img id="11169621" alt="" caption="Nigerian soldiers from the Multinational Joint Task Force stand guard in Monguno, Borno state, Nigeria, on July 5, 2025." src="Photo by JORIS BOLOMEY/AFP via Getty Images" sourcealt="" sources="[]" fetchpriority="auto" loading="lazy" width="4200" height="2800" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" style="color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 1536px, (min-width: 768px) 768px, 100vw" srcset="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-2224638746.jpg?w=640&quality=80&webp=1 640w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-2224638746.jpg?w=750&quality=80&webp=1 750w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-2224638746.jpg?w=1000&quality=80&webp=1 1000w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-2224638746.jpg?w=1200&quality=80&webp=1 1200w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-2224638746.jpg?w=1360&quality=80&webp=1 1360w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-2224638746.jpg?w=1600&quality=80&webp=1 1600w" bad-src="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-2224638746.jpg?w=1600&quality=80&webp=1"/> Greater than 250 youngsters are nonetheless being held in Nigeria after an abduction from a Catholic boarding college on November 21. A bunch of fifty escaped. One other 24 ladies had been rescued after being taken in a separate kidnapping. Tuggar stated the kidnapping of greater than 270 ladies at Chibok in 2014, which grabbed international headlines on the time, had additionally adopted threats of navy motion by Nigeria’s then president.

“We have now to watch out typically in the best way a few of these issues are addressed,” he stated.

Nigeria has dismissed accusations of Christian genocide, saying Muslims are as a lot a sufferer of armed teams as Christians within the nation of 230 million people who has been beset by a long time of violence rooted in ethnic, spiritual and political divisions in addition to criminality. Nigeria is cut up roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims.

<img id="11169615" alt="" caption="Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar speaks at the Doha Forum in Qatar on Dec 6, 2025" src="Photo by Matthew Tostevin" sourcealt="" sources="[]" fetchpriority="auto" loading="lazy" width="3268" height="2179" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" style="color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 1536px, (min-width: 768px) 768px, 100vw" srcset="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8801.jpg?w=640&quality=80&webp=1 640w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8801.jpg?w=750&quality=80&webp=1 750w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8801.jpg?w=1000&quality=80&webp=1 1000w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8801.jpg?w=1200&quality=80&webp=1 1200w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8801.jpg?w=1360&quality=80&webp=1 1360w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8801.jpg?w=1600&quality=80&webp=1 1600w" bad-src="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8801.jpg?w=1600&quality=80&webp=1"/> The violence can be a part of the broader unfold of chaos by Islamist factions and bandits within the Sahel area south of the Sahara desert.

Tuggar stated motion was being taken by Nigeria, the place the protection minister resigned lately as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a safety disaster. Nigeria was additionally working in direction of motion by a Multinational Joint Job Drive due to the regional nature of the menace, Tuggar stated.

“It is not a Nigerian drawback. It's a regional drawback. It is all the West African area. It is the Lake Chad area, and due to this fact it isn't a spiritual battle or an ethnic battle. And when you get the framing proper, then you definitely get the precise narrative, then you definitely apply the precise options.,” Tuggar stated.