By Opeyemi Quadri 
President Donald Trump recently said that invading terrorist enclaves in parts of Nigeria is inevitable after years of murderous attacks that have killed Nigerians – both Muslims and Christians. Sadly, he framed the problem of insecurity in Africa’s most populous country as “Christian genocide.” That framing has circulated in Nigeria for some time, and he now has the support of millions online demanding an end to what they call the “Christian” killings.
Origin of genocide
Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, coined the word “genocide” in 1944.
Meaning of genocide
The word has its origin from two Greek words, genos (meaning “race” or “tribe”) and the Latin word cide (meaning “killing”) to mean the coordinated destruction of a national group.
Later in 1946, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) first recognised the word as a crime under international law. Two years later, genocide was codified as an independent crime in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention).
What constitute genocide?
According to Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
- Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- Killing members of the group;
- Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
- Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
- Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Is there Christian genocide in Nigeria?
Both Muslims and Christians have tragic stories to tell. Those who were not killed still bear the scars of attacks by bloodthirsty terrorist groups in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto ((predominantly dominated by Muslims); Taraba, Plateau, Benue, Kwara; Southern Katsina (dominated by Christians), and other parts of the country. The insecurity is a as a result of leadership failure and of the politicisation of security for political gains by Nigerian politicians.
Mr. Trump’s stated plan is the first public proposal for foreign military action since Mohammed Yusuf founded Boko Haram in 2002, the first open threat by a world leader to end terrorism in the “Giant of Africa” since the group’s major attacks began in 2009. Those events, including the death of Yusuf, spiralled into even deadlier violence across the northeast and beyond.
The narrative of Christian genocide in Nigeria reached global attention on Friday, November 1, 2025, when the U.S. President accused the Nigerian government of “mass murder” of Christians and warned President Bola Tinubu to “BETTER MOVE FAST!” or he would send “guns-a-blazing” to Nigeria.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately 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,” he said.
He added that his planned attack would be “fast, vicious, and sweet,” and that he had directed “our Department of War to prepare for possible action.”
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth reportedly echoed the call, saying:
“The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
We can see how quickly events are unfolding. This is what happens when leaders deliberately fail: when they consciously and intentionally refuse to put their house in order. When leaders, instead of arresting, shaming, and dismantling terrorist networks, choose to pamper, clothe, and house “repentant” terrorists while ignoring the victims.
But killings in Nigeria are not only targeted at Christians. Muslims are victims too. In 2011, terrorists bombed St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, killing at least 37 people; three years later they attacked the Great Mosque of Kano during Juma’at prayers, killing more than 100 worshipers. Have the perpetrators of these despicable acts been brought to book?
What about the 2022 attack on a church in Owo, where more than 40 Christians were brutally killed, and the recent killings of Muslims at a mosque in Katsina? The casualty figures are endless – these are only the incidents that made it to national media. What of the killings in remote villages where terrorists have completely taken over?
For instance, on Monday, September 15, 2025, a terrorist group reportedly surrounded a mosque in Gidan Turbe village, Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, waited for Muslims to finish their early morning prayers (Subuhi) and whisked 43 worshipers away to Gahori Mountain. Gahori Mountain, a thick forest enclave straddling Zamfara, Kebbi and Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State, has long been described by residents as a terrorist stronghold. Has the government acted decisively on this information?
Repeatedly, Borno State Governor Prof. Babagana Zulum has warned that terrorists use drones to attack military formations, employ RPGs against civilians, and overrun security positions. All we hear from troops at the front is: “We don’t have sufficient and sophisticated weapons to face the terrorists,” despite billions budgeted annually for defence while the President sits in Abuja issuing familiar rhetoric.
In parts of Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto, residents who have nowhere else to go live in fear, sadly “patiently waiting” for death in the hands of assailants and terrorists.
The United States under Donald Trump – a country that has in the past called Nigeria a “shithole” and now labels it a “disgraced country” – knows how to capitalise on the emotions of civilians to justify intervention. When a U.S. president says, “I have notified the war department,” it is reasonable to assume they have gathered intelligence and mapped out target areas.
If Trump’s planned attack – which many see as more than a threat – will force the Tinubu administration into action, so be it. Governments have weaponised insecurity for political gains at every election. When leaders fail their people, they invite embarrassing labels and reckless rhetoric. Nigeria’s “office hunters” have politicised insecurity for too long and have needlessly toyed with the lives of citizens.
Removing the terrorists who kill Christians and Muslims alike is everyone’s prayer. But what happens when consequences arrive only after a foreign power gets involved? Nigeria is about to learn global politics the hard way.
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Editorial Staff