‘They’re important to us’ — US rep asks Trump not to bully, threaten Nigeria

Pramila Jayapal, a member of the United States house of representatives, has tackled President Donald Trump’s approach to addressing allegations of Christian genocide in Nigeria.

Trump recently re-designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” and threatened that the US military would go into the country “guns-a-blazing to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities”.

Speaking at a US congressional hearing on the matter in Washington DC on Thursday, Jayapal said the portrayal of a Christian persecution in Nigeria felt “simplistic” and does not account for the country’s “intersectional diversity”.

“Certainly, religion is a contributing factor to the violence, but a review by the Search for Common Ground found that in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, religion was not a primary driver of conflict,” she said.

“Instead, violence has been directed against both Christians and Muslims, regardless of religion, at the hands of armed terror groups like Boko Haram and ISIS West Africa, or fuelled by differences in lifestyle between farmer and herder groups compounded by climate change and governance issues.

“And so, I want to start by saying I’m very concerned that a day after President Trump saw a clip on Fox News about the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, he threatened to go ‘guns-a-blazing’ in Nigeria and revoke all assistance.

“Can you tell me under what authority would the US military strike inside of Nigeria?” Jayapal asked Jonathan Pratt, a senior official at the US state department’s Bureau of African Affairs, who was a witness on the panel.

Pratt had earlier noted that Marco Rubio, secretary of state, had directed that the department work on an action plan alongside the Nigerian government to tackle the issue.

“The secretary of state has directed us to put together a comprehensive plan that uses all tools at our disposal, including security and the Department of War, and this would be primarily focused on the security that we are providing to the government of Nigeria and how they are deploying their assets,” Pratt replied the congresswoman.

“We can also share information and intelligence. 
We can talk about counterterrorism. And so those are the tools that we are primarily looking at in our strategy.”

Jayapal then pressed Pratt on why those tools were not the first line of action, and he said the state department had been working to tackle insecurity in Nigeria for a long time.

She noted that the revision of tactics was to ensure that the best outcomes were derived.

“I just wish we would actually stick to that playbook rather than a bully and threaten of a country that is extremely important to us and to the region,” Jayapal said.

“I don’t think that’s the right way to go, to just go on Truth Social and threaten ‘guns-a-blazing’. I think what you’ve described is much more appropriate.”

During the hearing, Sara Jacobs, a congresswoman, said Trump’s threat to deploy military action in Nigeria was reckless.

Jacobs said the congress had not authorised force, and that any action without Nigeria’s consent violates international law.