The United States President Donald Trump has labeled the Nigeria’s government response over the country’s security situation as “a disgrace”, accusing the Tinubu administration of being ineffective in halting what he termed genocide.
He made this statement during ‘The Brian Kilmeade Show’, on Fox News Radio. Trump, who recently redesignated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” regarding religious freedom, threatened to cut off U.S. financial subsidies to the West African nation.
His outburst coincides with the bloody week in Nigeria. In just seven days, Nigeria has witnessed the killing of a Brigadier-General in Borno, the abduction of 25 schoolgirls in Kebbi State, a deadly church raid in Kwara, and a massive abduction of over 300 students and staff from a Catholic school in Niger State on Friday.
Trump expressed anger during the broadcast, placing the blame on the Nigerian government;
I think Nigeria is a disgrace. The whole thing is a disgrace. They’re killing people by the thousands. It’s a genocide. And I’m really angry about it. And we pay, you know, we give a lot of subsidy to Nigeria which we’re going to end up stopping. The government’s done nothing. They are very ineffective. They’re killing Christians at will. And you know until I got involved in it two weeks ago, nobody even talked about it – Trump
The criticism of Trump is seen as a setback to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who is leading a delegation to the U.S. to interface with Trump’s officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Congressman Riley Moore. The Nigerian government is working overtime to counter the narrative of state-sanctioned persecution, but the wave of attacks back home is complicating their diplomatic efforts.
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