UNITED NATIONS (TIP)- There is no genocide in northern Nigeria, the African Union Commission chairperson said on Wednesday, rejecting accusations by U.S. President Donald Trump that “very large numbers” of Christians were being killed in Africa’s most populous country.
“What’s going on in northern part of Nigeria has nothing to do with the kind of atrocities we see in Sudan or in some part of eastern DRC,” Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told reporters at the United Nations in New York, referring to Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Think twice before… making such statements,” he said. “The first victims of Boko Haram are Muslims, not Christians.”
The extremist Islamist armed group Boko Haram has also terrorized northeast Nigeria, an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people over the past 15 years. Human rights experts have said most Boko Haram victims have been Muslims. Trump earlier this month said he has asked the Defense Department to prepare for possible “fast” military action if Nigeria fails to crack down on the killing of Christians. He did not provide any specific evidence for his accusation.
He also threatened to “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.”
Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry has said the country would keep fighting violent extremism and that it hoped Washington would remain a close ally, saying it “will continue to defend all citizens, irrespective of race, creed, or religion.”
Nigeria, which has 200 ethnic groups practicing Christianity, Islam and traditional religions, has a long history of peaceful coexistence. But it has also seen flare-ups of violence among groups, often exacerbated by ethnic divisions or conflict over scarce resources.
Why Donald Trump targeted Nigeria
When Donald Trump claimed recently that the Nigerian government was failing to protect Christians from “massacres” by Islamist extremists, warning that Washington would “cut off all aid” to the country and even “hit hard and fast”, he raised quite a few eyebrows.
Nigeria rejected this narrative, stating the violence is not a campaign of religious persecution but a complex web of terrorism, banditry, land disputes, and ethnic rivalries that impact both Muslims and Christians. The episode highlights crucial questions over sovereignty, diplomacy, and the place of religion in global politics. Were the dispute to widen, it could create problems for Nigeria.
Trump’s criticism draws on reports, often amplified by US evangelical groups, of attacks on Christian communities in central and northern Nigeria, particularly in Plateau, Benue, and Kaduna states. These regions have seen recurrent massacres blamed on Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and armed Fulani militias. To Trump’s core voter base, these attacks fit a narrative of Christians under siege in Muslim-majority regions.
Nigerian officials and international observers offer a nuanced view: extremist groups target both Christians and Muslims. Many attacks stem from disputes over land, grazing routes, and local authority rather than religion alone.
Indeed, the Middle Belt, where much of the violence occurs, is a mosaic of ethnic and religious communities competing for dwindling land amid desertification and rapid population growth.
Nigeria’s response to Trump’s claims was measured but firm. Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said, “It’s impossible for there to be religious persecution supported in any way by the Government,”, reaffirming that the constitution guarantees religious freedom and equality.A presidential adviser said Nigeria welcomed US counterterrorism assistance “as long as it recognises our territorial integrity.”
There’s no genocide in Nigeria, says AU chief after Trump military threats
