President Donald Trump has cautioned that the United States may launch additional military strikes in Nigeria if violence against Christians persists.
Trump made the remarks during an interview with the New York Times (NYT) when asked whether the Christmas Day missile strikes on Islamic State targets signalled a wider military operation.
The strikes came roughly a month after Trump had threatened to deploy US troops into Nigeria “guns-a-blazing to wipe out the terrorists killing our cherished Christians”, amid repeated claims by some American politicians that Christians were facing genocide in the West African country.
At the time, Ademola Oshodi, senior special assistant to President Bola Tinubu on foreign affairs and protocol, said Nigeria maintained decision-making authority over the one-off action.
Following the operation, Trump indicated that further strikes could occur, a position he reiterated in the NYT interview published on Thursday.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” he said.
“But if they continue to kill Christians it will be a many-time strike.”
The Nigerian government has consistently dismissed allegations of targeted killings of Christians.
In October, Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, stated that Boko Haram and ISIS had killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria.
When asked about his adviser’s remarks, Trump responded: “I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.”
After the strikes, flight-tracking data revealed that the United States resumed intelligence and surveillance operations within Nigeria.