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By Lizzy Chirkpi
Nigeria has opened diplomatic discussions with the United States following President Donald Trump’s warnings of possible military intervention over the killing of Christians by jihadist groups, Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said on Monday.
Speaking in Abuja during an interview, Tuggar confirmed that both nations are now exploring cooperative approaches to security.
“What we are discussing is how we can collaborate to tackle security challenges that are in the interest of the entire planet,” he said.
Trump, earlier in November, announced that he had instructed the Pentagon to draw up potential military action plans targeting Africa’s most populous country, claiming radical Islamist groups are “killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers.”
But the foreign minister downplayed fears of US military strikes, stressing that diplomatic engagement has advanced.
Asked whether he believed Washington intended to launch an attack, Tuggar responded: “No, I do not think so.”
“Because we continue to talk, and as I said, the discussion has progressed. It’s moved on from that.”
Trump intensified his criticism by saying Christianity faces “an existential threat” in Nigeria, and warned that if the killings persist, the United States would intervene and “it will be fast, vicious, and sweet.”
Nigeria home to about 230 million people and nearly evenly split between a largely Christian south and a Muslim-majority north, continues to battle multiple security crises, including jihadist insurgencies that have claimed both Christian and Muslim lives indiscriminately.