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United States President Donald Trump placed Nigeria on a watchlist after watching a Fox News segment on how Christians were being persecuted in the West African country, CNN reports.
On Friday, Trump redesignated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” in response to allegations of targeted Christian killings in the country.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.
He blamed radical Islamists for the “mass slaughter”.
The report by CNN said Trump was on ‘Air Force One’ on his way to Florida when he watched the story and was immediately triggered by it.
Shortly after the plane touched down in West Palm Beach, the president began posting on Truth Social.
Thereafter, Trump fixated on the plight of Christians in Nigeria throughout the weekend, which led him to ask his secretary of defence to “prepare for possible action”.
The president also warned that US troops will enter Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to protect the Christian population.
CNN quoted a White House official as saying the president has “been tracking this issue previously and had already begun thinking about Truthing it out”.
The story added that sources familiar with Trump’s thinking on the issue said the president’s threats are meant to “see how Nigeria responds”.
Personnel within the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) were reportedly abruptly recalled to headquarters over the weekend following Trump’s social media post on Saturday.
A small group of personnel with AFRICOM, which is based in Germany, were also quickly recalled to discuss potential courses of action.
CNN quoted a source as saying that Trump’s latest sabre-rattling “was indicative of a broader frustration with the way potential policy decisions are relayed over social media, with little planning done ahead of time”.
Nigeria’s federal government has repeatedly rejected US claims of “Christian genocide” in the country.
