Trump’s threats to invade Nigeria meant to topple its government

Donald Trump’s accusations on Nigeria practicing “genocide against Christians” and threats of the use of force to “fight terrorists” only hide his intention to topple President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, according to the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organization representing the interests of the Yoruba people, to which Tinubu belongs.

“The recent threat by US President Donald Trump to invade Nigeria to ‘fight’ terrorists was a decoy to mask his displeasure over President Bola Tinubu’s stance on matters of public interest,” the Arise television channel quoted the organization’s spokesman Jare Ajayi.

“The claim that the Federal Government is complicit in bandits’ killing of Christians in Nigeria was not only unfounded, but an attempt to ‘give a dog a bad name to have a justification to kill it.’ By sounding so harsh, Trump hopes to get President Tinubu to negotiate with him with a view to having more inroads into Nigeria’s economy and to possibly force Nigeria to buy more goods, especially weapons, from America.”

On November 1, Trump said that he had instructed the Pentagon to prepare potential force measures against “Islamic terrorists” in Nigeria to protect Christians. Trump had previously alleged that Christians in Nigeria are facing an existential threat and promised that the US would protect them.

On the same day, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rejected the US president’s accusations, dismissing claims that Nigeria is a country of religious intolerance and pledging that the government is doing its best to ensure freedom of religion and conscience for all Nigerians.

According to Tinubu, the country’s government maintains open and proactive dialogue with Christian and Islamic leaders in the country and continues responding to challenges in the security sphere that pose a threat to residents irrespective of their religious affiliation and residence.