AFRICA/NIGERIA – Violence increases after Donald Trump announces military action to “protect Christians”

Abuja – “It appears that there are people deliberately trying to plunge this country into chaos,” wrote Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins of Lagos in an article published in the diocesan weekly newspaper, The Catholic Herald. Archbishop Martins notes that there has been “an increase in terrorist attacks throughout the country, particularly following President Donald Trump’s threat” to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” for the situation of Christians, claiming that Christianity is “facing an existential threat,” and consequently threatening military action by the United States.
Recent criminal and terrorist incidents include the attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, with the abduction of approximately 100 students ; the abduction of Father Bobbo Paschal ; the abduction of 25 girls from a school in Kebbi State ; the attack on November 18 during a live broadcast of a communal prayer service at Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, with the abduction of 38 worshippers and the murder of several others; and the assassination of Army General Muhammad Uba in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, during a clash with jihadists from the Islamic State of West Africa Province . Due to escalating violence, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has canceled his visits to South Africa and Angola, where he was scheduled to attend the G20 summit and the African Union-European Union summit. During a hearing before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Wilfred Anagbe, Bishop of Makurdi in Nigeria’s Benue State, praised President Trump’s initiative.
“On behalf of millions of Christians in Nigeria and the diaspora, we thank President Donald J. Trump for his courageous initiative to designate Nigeria as a Country of special concern. This is an important step, but it must be supported by concrete action,” he stated. However, not everyone in the U.S. Congress shares this view, including California Democratic Representative Sara Jacobs, who believes that “President Trump’s threat is reckless and any unilateral military action in Nigeria is illegal.” “Congress has not authorized the use of military force in Nigeria to protect Christians,” she added, after noting that both Christians and Muslims are affected by the violence.

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