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A Nigerian mission leader said President Donald Trump’s push to end the violence against Christians in his country is an “answered prayer.”
Andrew Gwaivangmin, the executive secretary of the Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association, told Fox News in an interview that Christians are “excited” Trump is prioritizing efforts to stop the killings of believers after years of bloodshed.
“We have cried out to the international community to force our government to do the right thing. This is the only time that America is focusing its attention on this violence in Nigeria. So, as a Christian, I’m excited,” he said.
“I’m happy that Trump is focusing on ensuring that this violence stops. Anybody who doesn’t support the intervention by Trump, clearly, you know that the person doesn’t understand the reality and the gravity of the violence that have occurred in the north of Nigeria over the last 10 years.”
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Trump threatened in a November Truth Social post to send U.S. troops “guns-a-blazing” into the most populous country in Africa to “completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.” The president also threatened to stop all aid and assistance if the violence continued.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu responded to Trump’s threat, writing on social media that his administration has worked with Christian and Muslim leaders to address security challenges affecting citizens across all faiths and regions.
“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” he wrote on X.
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so. Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it.”
Open Doors, an international Christian organization that supports persecuted believers, said attacks are most common in the northern, Muslim-majority states of Nigeria but have started spreading into the Middle Belt and farther south.
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The organization stated that Christians are at risk from targeted attacks by Islamist militants, including Fulani fighters and Boko Haram. Women are often killed and subjected to sexual violence.
Gwaivangmin told Fox News that many of his organization’s missionaries have been attacked and killed.
“We’ve had casualties. We’ve had to bury our missionaries. Our missionaries have to directly relocate. In fact, I can tell you that today, we have hundreds of widows whose husbands have been killed in their field as missionaries,” he said.
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“It’s not easy to be a Christian in Nigeria, and sadly, our government doesn’t seem to care to hold people accountable for all the killings, the mass killings that occur in this country,” Gwaivangmin added.
The leader of the largest global missions organization for the Nigerian Christian church said he would welcome U.S. military involvement to help end the violence. He believes having American boots on the ground isn’t realistic, but hopes the United States can provide logistical support and equipment to strengthen Nigeria’s forces.
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