Whatever action the United States (U.S.) could be planning against the Islamic Jihadists perpetrating genocide in Nigeria, it is strongly advised that it should be carried out in collaboration with the Nigerian government so as not to run afoul of international laws that forbid interference in the internal affairs of any sovereign nation, and to prove that the plan is purely on humanitarian ground, not shrouding any hidden agenda as it is already being alleged.

Except to the Islamic Jihadists themselves, their sponsors and some privileged Nigerians, inside and outside the government, who are benefitting immensely from the trillions of naira the Federal Government has been spending to curb this scourge with little or no success, it became obvious that Nigeria is in dire need of assistance in the form of superior power to end terrorism long before it was recently declared a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by the United States.

Essentially, external assistance in the war against the Islamic Jihadists became crucial in the face of the seemingly intractable level that their madness has assumed. And a distressing impression is already being created that the hoodlums, most of whom reportedly came from outside the country, are successfully overrunning some parts of sovereign Nigeria, with some states and local governments in the northern parts of the country now signing peace deals with terrorists who levy them heavily to guarantee the safety of the residents.

There are states where the Jihadists have taken full control of some local government areas, imposing levies on farmers which must be paid before they can go to their farms to produce food. Those who dare flout their orders are sent to an early grave. No consequences for their cruelty. It is unimaginable that all of these are happening in the most populous African nation that boasts of many agencies, including the police and military, in its security apparatus.

Nigeria must be saved from these devils, and we may need foreign assistance to achieve this successfully. We only admonish that any such action should be jointly planned and executed by both countries, and in a way that the sovereignty of Nigeria is not undermined and the sanctity of the life of every Nigerian and foreign national living in Nigeria is perfectly protected.

President Donald Trump of the United States recently declared Nigeria a CPC over allegations of intermittent genocide against Christians in the country, without tangible commitment by the Nigerian government to end the atrocity and bring the perpetrators to justice. But the Nigerian government has rejected the allegation, claiming that it is not only Christians who are being killed and that the atrocity cannot be said to be targeted at Christians.

However, as a country of particular concern, Nigeria will now be perceived as a nation where some atrocities that are against the interests of the United States are being perpetrated. It goes beyond label to official classification of Nigeria, under the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998, as a country found to be engaging in or tolerating ‘systemic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.’

This is the second time that Nigeria will be designated as a CPC. It happened during the first term in office of Trump as U.S. president in December 2020, but his successor, Joe Biden, delisted Nigeria in 2021 on the claim that progress had been made and that ongoing engagement was a more effective approach to resolving the matter. In the latest declaration, the U.S. announced readiness to crush the Islamic Jihadists whom it identified as the killers of innocent Nigerians, particularly Christians. The situation can lead to the imposition of sanctions on Nigeria in economic and security areas, among others.

It was actually a U.S. lawmaker, Riley Moore, who drew the attention of the U.S. government this time to what he described as ‘systemic persecution and slaughter of Christians in Nigeria.’ He called Nigeria the deadliest place in the world for followers of the Christian faith, urging the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to take immediate diplomatic action on the matter and redesignate Nigeria as a CPC.

He also called for suspension of arms sales to Nigeria until the Nigerian government ‘demonstrates tangible commitment’ to ending the violence against Christians. ‘Nigeria has become the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian, and the United States cannot stand idly by,’ Moore wrote in his statement.

The American lawmaker cited figures from Open Doors and other reports, stating that thousands of Christians have been killed in 2025 alone and thousands of churches have been attacked and destroyed since 2009. He alleged that corrupt cells within the Nigerian government might be complicit.

Moore also alleged that in states like Kano, the government has closed Christian orphanages and forced the children to be re-educated as Muslims, just as he cited harsh anti-blasphemy laws to which some Christians have fallen victim. The U.S. lawmaker, who acknowledged that Nigerians of all faiths face terrorism, said Christians are far and away the most targeted for persecution and violence.

The statement by Moore followed a similar one by a U.S. Senator, Ted Cruz, in late September this year, which alleged that Nigerian officials were ‘ignoring and even facilitating mass murder of Christians by Islamic Jihadists’.

What further stirred global attention was a viral video by a Plateau-based cleric, Ezekiel Dachomo, which showed the mass burial of victims of a recent attack in the Heipang community near Jos. In his comment on the circumstances surrounding the video, Dachomo, who is the regional head of the Church of Christ in Nations (CCIN), spoke on the repeated killings in Plateau communities and the government’s inaction, calling for global intervention to stop what he described as genocide against Christians in Nigeria.

To be blunt, the solution to the confrontation with the United States over alleged genocide against Christians in Nigeria does not lie in the reactions we have seen by some Nigerians, which can only be perceived as an exhibition of theoretical knowledge of the law and international politics, unmindful of the unfortunate fact that sometimes some laws are seen broken and the unexpected happens, and the victim becomes helpless.

Granted that it is not only Christians who are being killed, which has been the kernel of most of the reactions, even from the government circles, to America’s threat, we can ask ourselves: Is genocide not being perpetrated in Nigeria? Can we truly say that Nigeria is a safe place to live in? Are we winning the war against these terrorists? Are we being honest with ourselves? What nobody or the government has been able to deny is the fact that a significant number of Nigerians, both Christians and Muslims, are being killed almost daily by Islamic Jihadists who are members of different terror groups now operating freely in Nigeria.