US President Donald Trump has ordered the military to prepare for action in Nigeria to tackle Islamist militant groups, accusing the government of failing to protect Christians.
Trump did not specify which killings he was referring to, but claims of a genocide against Nigeria's Christians have been circulating in recent weeks and months in some right-wing US circles.
Groups monitoring violence say there is no evidence to suggest that Christians are being killed more than Muslims in Nigeria, which is roughly evenly divided between followers of the two religions.
An advisor to Nigeria's president told the BBC that any military action against the jihadist groups should be carried out together.
Daniel Bwala said Nigeria would welcome US help but noted that it was a 'sovereign' country. He emphasized that the jihadists were not targeting members of a particular religion and that they had killed people from all faiths, or none.
Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has insisted there is religious tolerance in the country and said the security challenges were affecting people 'across faiths and regions'. Trump wrote in a social media post that he had instructed the US Department of War to prepare for 'possible action'.
He warned that he might send the military into Nigeria 'guns-a-blazing' unless the Nigerian government intervened, threatening to cut all aid to what he called 'the now disgraced country'. Trump indicated that if action were to be taken, it would be 'fast, vicious, and sweet'.
This difficult stance follows a declaration by Trump labeling Nigeria a 'Country of Particular Concern' due to the perceived threat to its Christian population without substantial proof. Tinubu asserted that his administration would work with the US to safeguard communities of all faiths, countering the notion that Nigeria faces religious intolerance.
The ongoing insurgency by groups like Boko Haram and ISIS in the region poses significant risk to all civilians, particularly in northern Nigeria. Trump's threat of military intervention has accrued alarm among Nigerians, prompting calls for increased local government action to quell the violence.
