Trump’s Faith Politics and the Danger of Dividing Nigeria

U.S. President Donald Trump, who returned to office for a second non-consecutive term in January 2025, has stirred global controversy with his recent remarks alleging that “Christians are being killed in Nigeria.”

Speaking at a faith-based policy event in Florida, President Trump described Nigeria as “a country where radical Islamists are killing thousands of Christians,” and warned that the United States “may take decisive action” if the Nigerian government fails to protect Christian communities.

While his statement drew applause from evangelical supporters in the U.S., it has been met with skepticism and outrage across Nigeria — with many observers accusing him of using religion and ethnicity to oversimplify a deeply complex national crisis.

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The Reality Behind the Violence

Yes, killings in Nigeria are real. But no, they are not solely religious.

From Boko Haram’s terror attacks in the northeast to farmer-herder clashes in the Middle Belt, Nigeria’s insecurity is a tangled web of land disputes, criminal banditry, ethnic tensions, and governance failure — where both Christians and Muslims have suffered immense losses.

According to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), between October 2019 and September 2023, about 55,910 people were killed in roughly 9,970 deadly attacks across Nigeria. Of these, 30,880 were civilians, including 16,769 Christians and 6,235 Muslims.

These figures, though heartbreaking, reveal that violence in Nigeria is far from one-sided. Christians are indeed victims — but so are thousands of Muslims in the country’s north and northwest, where armed banditry, insurgency, and terrorism have devastated communities.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) further reports that only about 5% of reported civilian targeting events between 2020 and 2024 were explicitly faith-based. The vast majority stemmed from criminal and communal conflicts, not religious wars.

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Middle Belt: The Flashpoint of Misunderstanding

The so-called “Christian killings” that Trump referenced largely occur in Nigeria’s Middle Belt — a region where herder-farmer clashes have persisted for over two decades.

States like Benue, Plateau, and Nasarawa have seen repeated attacks on farming villages, often populated by Christians. Yet, experts stress that these conflicts are rooted more in land scarcity, climate change, and survival battles than in deliberate religious persecution.

In Benue State, about 2,300 people were killed in herder-related violence between 2020 and 2023. But across Zamfara and Katsina — Muslim-majority states in the northwest — over 3,000 Muslims were also killed by criminal bandits in the same period.

The bloodshed cuts across religion. The difference lies in how the stories are told.

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Nigeria Rejects Trump’s Remarks

Nigeria’s federal government has firmly rejected President Trump’s comments, describing them as “misleading and capable of worsening religious tensions.”

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said:

> “Nigeria is not a religiously intolerant country. Christians, Muslims, and traditional believers coexist peacefully in most regions. Our challenge is insecurity, not a holy war.”

Officials also warned that such remarks could embolden extremist groups who thrive on narratives of religious victimhood.

“Trump’s comments may win him votes in America,” a senior presidential aide told DailyScoopNG, “but here in Nigeria, they risk undermining years of peacebuilding efforts between faith communities.”

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Analysts Warn Against Foreign Political Exploitation

Security experts argue that Trump’s statements are part of a political and evangelical agenda — designed more to appeal to conservative Christian voters in the U.S. than to reflect Nigeria’s reality.

“Religious narratives sell easily in American politics,” says Abuja-based analyst Dr. Kabiru Yusuff. “But Nigeria’s violence cannot be reduced to Christians versus Muslims. Both sides are bleeding.”

Human rights advocate Chinwe Okafor, who works with displaced families in Plateau and Kaduna, agrees:

> “In our camps, Christians and Muslims mourn side by side. The real war is against poverty, injustice, and failed governance — not against religion.”

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The True Picture of a Humanitarian Crisis

Beyond faith, the humanitarian impact is staggering.

More than 3 million Nigerians are internally displaced, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Many fled from Benue, Borno, Kaduna, and Zamfara States, where violence has uprooted entire communities.

In 2024 alone, Nigeria recorded over 6,500 conflict-related deaths, ranking among the world’s deadliest non-war zones.

While Western media often frame the story as “Christians under attack,” the reality on the ground is that Muslim-majority villages in the north have suffered equal devastation — from Boko Haram bombings, ISWAP raids, and bandit kidnappings.

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Why Trump’s Words Are Dangerous

This is not the first time President Trump has commented on Nigeria’s violence. During his first term (2017–2021), he accused Nigeria of “failing to protect Christians” and warned of possible sanctions.

But his renewed rhetoric in 2025 carries greater risk, as Nigeria continues to battle insecurity and ethnic distrust.

By presenting Nigeria’s violence as a “religious war,” Trump risks deepening divisions between communities and giving extremist groups — on both sides — the propaganda they crave.

“Foreign leaders must be careful not to weaponize faith for politics,” warns Professor Iyiola Oni, a geographer at Lagos State University. “Nigeria’s problems are social, economic, and environmental. Religion is just the spark on top of dry wood.”

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A Call for Responsible Global Engagement

Rather than stoking division, world leaders should focus on helping Nigeria address root causes of violence — from youth unemployment to land degradation, rural poverty, and poor governance.

Nigeria needs security cooperation, climate resilience projects, and community peacebuilding, not foreign leaders turning its pain into a political slogan.

Trump’s words may draw attention, but they risk drawing blood too — if Nigerians begin to see their suffering only through a religious lens.

In truth, what’s killing Nigerians — Christians and Muslims alike — is not faith, but the failure of justice, leadership, and empathy.