Trump Threatens Military Action Against Nigeria Over Christian Killings

US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Nigeria, threatening military intervention if the government “continues to allow the killing of Christians.” In a video posted to Truth Social, Trump pledged to “do things to Nigeria that Nigeria is not going to be happy about” and “go into that now-disgraced country guns-a-blazing.”

This escalation follows months of campaigning by US politicians and activists who claim Islamist militants are systematically targeting Christians in Nigeria. However, the BBC investigation has found that much of the data supporting these allegations is difficult to verify.

Television host Bill Maher recently characterized the situation as a “genocide,” claiming that Boko Haram has “killed over 100,000 [Christians] since 2009” and “burned 18,000 churches.” Similar figures have gained traction on social media and been cited by prominent politicians.

The Nigerian government has rejected these characterizations, calling them “a gross misrepresentation of reality.” While not denying the country faces deadly violence, officials maintain that “terrorists attack all who reject their murderous ideology – Muslims, Christians and those of no faith alike.”

Nigeria, with its 220 million people roughly evenly split between Muslims and Christians, faces multiple security crises across different regions. Muslims predominate in the north, where most attacks occur.

US Political Pressure Intensifies

Texas Senator Ted Cruz has been vocal on this issue, stating on social media that “since 2009, over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria have been massacred, and over 18,000 churches and 2,000 Christian schools have been destroyed.” While Cruz’s office clarified he was describing “persecution” rather than “genocide,” he has accused Nigerian officials of “ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.”

Nigerian authorities deny these allegations, insisting they are working to combat jihadist groups. Some officials have welcomed potential US assistance in fighting insurgents, provided it’s done cooperatively rather than unilaterally.

The Nigerian government has undeniably struggled to contain violent jihadist organizations and criminal networks. Boko Haram has been active since 2009, gaining international notoriety after kidnapping the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014. Its operations, along with those of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), are concentrated in the predominantly Muslim northeast.

Questionable Data Sources

The figures cited by US politicians appear to largely originate from reports by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (InterSociety), a Nigerian non-governmental organization. In August, InterSociety published a report claiming jihadist groups had killed over 100,000 Christians since 2009, along with 60,000 “moderate Muslims.”

However, the BBC found InterSociety’s methodology lacks transparency. The organization doesn’t provide an itemized list of sources, making verification difficult. When questioned about their methods, InterSociety stated it was “almost impossible to reproduce all our reports and their references dating back to 2010,” explaining they “pick their summary statistics and add them to our fresh discoveries.”

For 2025 alone, InterSociety reported that over 7,000 Christians were killed between January and August. The BBC analyzed the 70 media reports listed as sources and found several problems: about half didn’t mention victims’ religious identities; some attacks appeared to be counted multiple times; and the total deaths from these sources amounted to approximately 3,000, not 7,000.

InterSociety explained this discrepancy by saying they include estimated deaths in captivity and rely on confidential eyewitness accounts.

Who Are the Perpetrators?

InterSociety’s list of perpetrators includes recognized jihadist groups like Boko Haram but also controversially labels Fulani herders as “jihadists.” The Fulani are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group traditionally engaged in cattle herding across West Africa.

Many researchers reject characterizing conflicts involving Fulani herders as religious in nature, arguing they primarily revolve around access to land and water resources. Security analyst Christian Ani stated, “to say that they are jihadists – it’s a far stretch. It has nothing to do with that. It has a lot more to do with rogue and criminal elements.”

Confidence McHarry, senior security analyst at SBM Intelligence, notes these clashes often stem from ethnic tensions and competition over resources: “It might be ethnic in nature – they’re seeking to grab lands, they’re seeking to expand territory, but the more they displace communities and the more they attack worship centres, the more these things tend to get looked at in that light.”

Alternative Data and Perspectives

ACLED, which monitors violence in West Africa with transparent methodology, presents significantly different figures. According to ACLED, just under 53,000 civilians – both Muslims and Christians – have been reported killed in targeted political violence since 2009.

From 2020 to September 2025, ACLED identified 384 incidents specifically targeting Christians, resulting in 317 deaths – a small fraction of the approximately 21,000 civilians killed during that period.

Trump cited a figure of 3,100 Christians killed in his recent post, referencing a report by Open Doors, a charity researching Christian persecution worldwide. However, the same report noted that 2,320 Muslims were also killed during that 12-month period from October 2023.

Frans Veerman of Open Doors observed that “what we see now is that Christians are still targeted, but increasingly some Muslims are targeted by Fulani militants.”

Analysts point out that numerous violent attacks on mosques and Muslim communities occur, particularly in northwestern Nigeria. McHarry suggests these attacks aren’t framed in religious terms because “the identities of the people who are carrying out these attacks against Muslims are themselves Muslims.”

As tensions escalate between the US and Nigeria over this issue, the complex reality of Nigeria’s security challenges remains obscured by competing narratives and questionable data, complicating efforts to address the genuine suffering experienced by communities across the country.