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The African state’s government has warned that any foreign troop deployment on its soil without consent would be “diplomatically inappropriate”
Nigeria has rejected any unilateral US military intervention in fighting Islamist insurgents, declaring that external help must come with full respect for the West African country’s sovereignty.
Daniel Bwala, the spokesperson for Nigeria’s president, made the remarks on Sunday after US President Donald Trump said he ordered the Pentagon to prepare for potential troop deployments or airstrikes in Nigeria.
Trump on Saturday cited “record numbers” of Christians being killed in Nigeria and designated it a ‘Country of Particular Concern’. He threatened to cut all aid to the country unless the Nigerian government intervenes. “If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!” Trump wrote on social media.
In a statement on Sunday, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson said it “would not be diplomatically appropriate for the US to take unilateral action without engagement and consent” from Abuja.
“Nigeria remains a sovereign nation, and while collaboration with international partners in addressing insecurity is welcome, any form of intervention must respect our sovereignty,” Bwala added.
Africa’s most populous nation has grappled for years with insurgency linked to groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province.
Last month, US Congressman Riley Moore wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for “immediate action to address the systematic persecution and slaughter of Christians in Nigeria.” He asked Washington to designate the African country a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, calling it “the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian.”
Moore claimed that more than 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria this year alone, with hundreds more kidnapped, tortured, or displaced by extremist groups. Over 19,000 churches have been attacked and more than 50,000 people killed since 2009, he added.
Nigerian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa told RT that while the government understands Washington’s concern, “those that are being killed are not only Christians.”
“We are against the designation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern,’” he said, adding that Abuja is trying its “best to curtail the killing, not only stopping the killing of Christians, but stopping the killing” of Nigerians anywhere in the country.
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