President Donald Trump ordered the Department of War to develop plans to attack Nigeria. He said the US was prepared to invade the country if Abuja did not end violence against Christians. Nigeria said it welcomes US support in fighting terrorism as long as its sovereignty is respected. 

On Saturday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

He continued, “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”

Trump made the threat following several Republican lawmakers labeling ethnic violence in Nigeria as a “Christian genocide.” That the violence in Nigeria uniquely targets Christians is disputed. 

Bulama Bukarti, a Nigerian humanitarian lawyer and analyst on conflict and development, told Al Jazeera, “They bomb markets, they bomb churches, they bomb mosques and they attack every civilian location they find – they do not discriminate between Muslims and Christians.”

That assessment was backed by Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior advisor for Arab and African affairs, who said last month that the jihadists in Nigeria “are killing more Muslims than Christians.”

Boko Haram and the Islamic State operate in northern Nigeria. Africa’s most populous nation, 237 million people, is about 54% Muslim and 46% Christian. In May, Amnesty International reported over 10,000 people had been killed by conflict in Nigeria over the past two years. 

Abuja responded to Trump’s post that Nigeria was willing to work with the US against jihadist groups, and stressed that the violence was not limited to targeting Christians.

“We are not proud of the security situation that we are passing through, but … There is no Christian genocide in Nigeria,” Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman, told Al Jazeera on Sunday. 

Nigeria’s presidency, Daniel Bwala, said that Abuja would “welcome US assistance as long as it recognises our territorial integrity.”