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By Oscar Okhifo
American rapper, Nicki Minaj, has praised United States President Donald Trump for designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) over rising attacks and killings targeting Christian communities across the West African nation.
Trump, in a statement released on Friday, said Nigeria is facing an “existential threat” to Christianity, accusing “radical Islamists” of carrying out mass slaughter of believers without adequate response from authorities.
Trump said: “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN,’ a designation under American law to designate countries where severe violations of religious liberty are occurring.”
Reacting to the announcement, Nicki Minaj took to social media to express gratitude to the U.S. government for paying attention to the plight of Christians in Nigeria.
“Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God,” she wrote.
“No group should ever be persecuted for practising their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other.”
The CPC designation places Nigeria among countries considered to be engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedom.
It also opens the door for Washington to impose targeted sanctions on individuals or institutions deemed complicit in such abuses.
Trump’s move comes after years of pressure from international religious-freedom organisations and lawmakers who argue that the violence against Christians in Nigeria amounts to a form of genocide.
Nigeria has been battling multiple security crises including Islamist insurgency, banditry, and farmer-herder crisis.
While some Christian advocacy groups insist the killings are religiously motivated, the Nigerian government has consistently rejected claims of a “Christian genocide,” maintaining that victims cut across religious lines.
Diplomatic observers say the latest U.S. designation could strain relations between the two nations if sanctions are eventually enforced.
Meanwhile, many Christian groups in the United States and Nigeria have welcomed the move, urging the Nigerian government to intensify efforts to protect vulnerable communities and the citizens. There is need for government to enforce it’s might against the notorious killers that have so ruled the land as if Nigeria is a failed state.