Weeks after United States Senator, Ted Cruz, accused the Nigerian Government of enabling a “massacre” against Christians, President Donald Trump has sent a strong warning to radical Islamists behind the alleged killings that his country will not standby while such atrocities continue.

In an X post on Friday, Trump declared that “we stand ready, willing and able to save our Great Christian population around the world!” Trump stated that “Christianity is facing existential threat in Nigeria,” and pronounced Nigeria as a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.”

His post read: “Christianity is facing existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” –But that is the list of it. When Christians or any such group is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done! I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me. The United States cannot standby while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries.

We stand ready, willing and able to save our Great Christian population around the world!”

In an X post, Cruz had alleged that 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009 with 2,000 schools and 18,000 churches destroyed by what he called “Islamist” armed groups, but he did not cite sources of the information.

Cruz had said: “Officials in Nigeria are ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists. It’s time to hold those responsible accountable. My Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools.”

Trump’s comment amid continued insistence by the Federal Government that nothing of such was happening in Nigeria. Although the government admitted that there are security challenges in the country, it said it was battling them head-on, maintaining that the attacks had been against both Christians and Muslims.

Speaking during an interview on CNN last Tuesday night, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, reaffirmed that Nigeria remains a nation committed to upholding religious freedom and protecting all citizens, regardless of faith or ethnicity.

He described assertions suggesting that terrorist attacks in Nigeria were primarily targeted at Christians as misleading and inconsistent with Nigeria’s complex security realities, emphasising that the right to freedom of religion is constitutionally guaranteed.

“Some of the claims made by officials of the United States are based on faulty data and wrong assumptions that victims of violence in Nigeria are largely Christians,” Idris explained. “Yes, Christians have been attacked, but so have Muslims. These criminals target everyone indiscriminately. In many cases, they attack Muslims as well, particularly in the northern part of the country,” he added.

He warned that such narratives risk fuelling religious tension and inadvertently serve the agenda of extremist elements seeking to divide Nigerians along religious lines.

“Portraying Nigeria as a country at war between Christians and Muslims is not only false but dangerous. The perpetrators want to create that impression, but Nigerians know better; we have coexisted peacefully for decades,” he said.

Idris reiterated that Nigeria is a tolerant and diverse nation that guarantees freedom of worship for all. He urged international partners and observers to approach the issue of insecurity in Nigeria with balance and sensitivity, stressing that “characterising these attacks as religiously motivated undermines ongoing national efforts to promote unity and stability.”