American rapper Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, widely known as Nicki Minaj, has claimed that Christians in Nigeria are being forced from their homes and killed, backing former US President Donald Trump’s allegations of targeted attacks.
Minaj made the statement on Tuesday while speaking at a United States-organised event at the United Nations focused on religious violence and the safety of Christians in Nigeria.
She said, “In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted,” Minaj said, adding that, “Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart … simply because of how they pray.”
Minaj, 42, noted that her comment was not intended to divide Nigerians but to call attention to the suffering of victims caught in the country’s prolonged security crisis.
The rapper, who has a long history of speaking on global injustices, insisted that her focus was humanity, not political alignment.
She said calling for protection for Christian communities in Nigeria “is not about taking sides or dividing people,” but about “uniting humanity”.
“This is about standing up in the face of injustice. It’s about what I’ve always stood for,” she added while standing beside the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz.
Minaj also thanked Trump “for prioritizing this issue and for his leadership”, describing Nigeria as “a beautiful nation with deep faith traditions” and even recognising her Nigerian fanbase, the “beautiful Barbz”.
Her remarks come after Trump recently threatened to send US troops into Nigeria, saying he would go in “guns a-blazing” if the Nigerian government “continues to allow the killing of Christians”.
The former president had earlier declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern”, drawing attention to reports of attacks in parts of the North where armed groups have raided villages, burnt houses and killed residents.
However, the Nigerian presidency has rejected claims of religious persecution, stressing that the violence across the country affects people of different faiths and backgrounds.
Government officials maintain that the insecurity is driven by long-standing issues such as competition for land and water, inter-ethnic disputes, and criminal activities carried out by armed groups.
Security analysts say the situation is far more complex than a simple religious conflict, noting that attacks in many states have affected Muslims and Christians alike. Some experts also warned that foreign commentary could inflame tensions if not based on verified information.
Waltz, however, thanked Minaj for “leveraging her massive platform to spotlight the atrocities against Christians in Nigeria”, saying her intervention had amplified a conversation that Washington conservatives have pushed for months.
The rapper’s comment has sparked debate online, with some Nigerians welcoming her concern, while others say she may not have the full context of a conflict shaped by banditry, land disputes, terrorism and weak state capacity.
