United States (U.S.) President, Donald Trump, has issued a threat to take military action in Nigeria over what he sees as the persecution of Christians.
He has accused the Nigerian government of not doing enough to prevent radical Islamists from carrying out what he refered to as genocide against Christians.
Trump even claimed that Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. He warned that the U.S. military would invade Nigeria and deal a severe blow the Islamist radicals responsible for the killing of Christians in Nigeria if the Nigerian government doesn’t do something fast about it.
The U.S. President’s claim of Christian genocide in Nigeria is completely wrong. His threat of military action in Nigeria is based on a false premise . Framing Nigeria’s current security challenges as driven by religion is way off the mark.. Christians, Muslims, animists and atheists have all be victims of insecurity in Nigeria.
The Boko Haram insurgency started in Borno State in 2009 under former President Umar Musa Yar’Adua. He did his best to curtail them until he passed away. The subsequent governments of former President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari battled the insurgents , but with minimal success. . Infact, under Buhari, bandits emerged terrorising the north west and north central zones. These groups do not have respect for the religious affiliation of their victims. It is on record that Boko Haram insurgents have attacked several Mosques and killed thousands of Muslims in Borno, Yobe , Kano and Adamawa, while bandits have decimated hundreds of Muslims in Zamfara, Sokoto and Niger States. If the motive of the insurgents and bandits is to wipe out Christians as alleged by Trump, why are they also killing Muslims? This is to show that their motive goes beyond religion. The aim of the Islamic terrorists is to set up a Muslim theocratic enclave in northern Nigeria and are determined to crush anyone who opposes them, Christians and Muslims alike.
The US government’s framing of the violence in Nigeria as Islamists killing Christians oversimplifies a complex situation.The motives for violent attacks in other areas such as Benue and Plateau States are different. The fertile land in Benue is an attraction to the nomadic herders resulting in
conflicts between sedentary farmers who are Christians and the Fulani herders who are Muslims. A slightly different scenario is playing out on the Plateau where the conflict is between the indigenes who are Christians and the Muslim Fulani settlers. The Plateau situation is largely about land grabbing. Farmers have destroyed herds of livestock worth millions of naira, and sometimes killed herders in
retaliation for the destruction of their crops. It is largely disingenuous and mischievous to attach religious appellation to the unfortunate killings in Plateau and Benue States.
But, there is a big question! Why was it that successive governments were unable to bring the perpetrators of these killings in justice?
The administration of President Bola Tinubu has been doing his best to deal with the security situation he inherited.
The Global Terrorism Index, an acclaimed international organisation, has reported a drop in terror attacks in Nigeria. Our gallant military is decimating the insurgents and bandits. More than 13,500 terrorists have been killed, over 17,000 suspects arrested and 9,800 abducted individuals rescued in the last two years.
Leaders of terror groups and bandits are being arrested and some sent to meet their maker. Some leaders of the Ansaru terror group have been apprehended and are facing prosecution.
Those responsible for the attacks on the Owo Catholic Church in Ondo State and the recent killings in Yelwata in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State have been arrested and have been arraigned in court to face justice.
President Tinubu has expressed his commitment to defeat terror. He recently told the new service chiefs that Nigerians expect results, not excuses, in the fight against insecurity. The Federal Government has also said it was open to receiving the support international partners in the fight against insurgency and banditry, but based on mutual respect.
Nigeria is a sovereign nation. It’s territorial integrity must be respected by all , including the United States. It will be a violation of the United Nations charter for the US to carry out any attack on Nigerian soil without the express authorization of the government. The US can assist in defeating terror through intelligence sharing, training of our military, provision of military software and hardwares, but definitely not through threats.
President Tinubu whose wife is a Christian, who handed over schools to missionaries and instituted a Christian annual thanksgiving by Lagos State civil servants, promoted religious harmony when he was the Governor of the state cannot be associated with religious intolerance or targeting of Christians. He has promised to uphold the principle of freedom of religion as enshrined in Nigeria’s constitution.
International lobbyists who are reframing the insecurity in Nigeria as purely a religious thing should have a rethink.
*Owaikhena Osikhekha is a Public Affairs Analyst based in Lagos.
