…Targets Visa Ban, Asset Freeze For Miyetti Allah Over Christian Persecution Claims
…As Ex-General Warns Trump Against Another Iraq
Three plans have been drawn up to be forwarded to the Pentagon, outlining a potential military operation against “Jihadists” and terrorist groups on the rampage in Nigeria, even though President Bola Tinubu’s administration is diametrically opposed to the idea.
Unimpressed by Mr Tinubu’s efforts to tame the unhinged bandits and terrorists maiming and killing thousands of innocent civilians across the country, particularly in the northern region, U.S. President Donald Trump has accused the Nigerian leader of overseeing a government that turns a blind eye to atrocities targeted at Christians, which he termed as genocide.
The main Christian body in Nigeria affirmed that allegation.
Last week, Mr Trump pulled the ear of the Tinubu administration by re-designating Nigeria as a ‘country of particular’ concern. Thereafter, Mr Trump warned that U.S. troops would storm Nigeria, gun blazing, to smoke out and kill off the armed bandits and “Jihadists” allegedly carrying out a genocide against Christians.
“If the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Mr Trump stated. “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”
Meanwhile, Mr Trump has ordered the U.S. Department of War to prepare for the military offensive, and plans seem to be underway to launch an attack on Nigerian soil.
That unwarranted and unwelcome military operation has begun to take shape, according to a report by The New York Times. It reported that the U.S. military was considering three options for the attack, according to defence sources familiar with the plans.
The military plan, the newspaper reported, outlined three options, namely light, medium, and heavy.
The light option included what the military referred to as partner-enabled operations.
Under that option, the U.S. military and the State Department would support government forces in Nigeria to target Boko Haram and other Islamic insurgents who have attacked, kidnapped, and murdered civilians, mostly in northern Nigeria, stated the publication.
Additionally, it reported that following that route, the U.S. government would have to conduct the operation without the expertise of the U.S. Agency for International Development, whose office in Abuja was shut down in July via Mr Trump’s fiat.
The “medium option” suggested by Africa Command includes drone strikes on militant camps, bases, convoys, and vehicles in northern Nigeria, said the newspaper. However, this option, the report noted, is constrained by the fact “that the U.S. military in August vacated its two nearest drone bases, in Agadez and Niamey, both in neighbouring Niger.
Russian forces currently occupy those bases.
The third option would be to deploy an aircraft carrier group into the Gulf of Guinea and to send fighters and possibly long-range bombers to conduct strikes deep in northern Nigeria.
American lawmaker Riley Moore accused the Nigerian government of complicity in the attacks on Nigerian Christians. Mr Moore, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd District in Congress, stated that nobody “seems to really care about it”.
Mr Moore added, “This is something, as a Christian myself and a Catholic, this is something I deeply care about. My Christian brothers and sisters are being murdered in Nigeria, and this is me raising the alarm in the United States and say we have to do something. This is so alarming and concerning.”
The U.S. lawmaker further accused Mr Tinubu’s administration of “shameful silence”, insisting the government has continued to turn a blind eye to the attacks despite scores of churches destroyed and Christians murdered.
“It’s turning a blind eye to it. This has been going on for quite a while in Nigeria, and it’s the persecution and ethnic cleansing of Christians in the country of Nigeria by Islamic extremists. There are three different types of groups to blame here,” the lawmaker explained. “One is Boko Haram; we are kind of familiar with it.
“We have IS Africa, more ISIS aligned, and you have these tribal people, most of them involved in cattle herdsmen, the Fulani. There have been, as of recent, a lot of killings. All three are to blame for this. And to me, the government of Nigeria is to blame for this as well.”
Mr Tinubu has rejected claims of a pogrom against Christians in the country. On Sunday, his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said the Nigerian leader was well ahead of the “orchestrated game” unfolding in the U.S.
“President Bola Tinubu was well ahead of the orchestrated game unfolding in America as he told the new service chiefs on Thursday what Nigerians expect of them. No more excuses, he said. Nigerians want results,” Mr Onanuga said.
China, also designated as a ‘country of particular concern’, has thrown its weight behind Nigeria.
“As Nigeria’s comprehensive strategic partner, China firmly opposes any country using religion and human rights as an excuse to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, and threatening other countries with sanctions and force,” the Chinese government said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a new bill introduced in the US Congress has proposed targeted sanctions and other restrictive measures against individuals and groups accused of serious violations of religious freedom in Nigeria.
The legislation specifically named the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore as entities implicated in such abuses.
The bill introduced by Smith Christopher, member of the house of representatives, proposed sanctions on members of the groups including visa restrictions and asset freezes.
He presented the bill on Tuesday while commending US President Donald Trump for re-designating Nigeria a country of particular concern (CPC).
“President Donald J. Trump acted appropriately and decisively to redesignate Nigeria as a CPC and hold the Nigerian government accountable for its complicity in religious persecution by radical Islamists, such as Boko Haram and Fulani terrorists,” Christopher said.
In the bill, Christopher noted that the US has also placed “Fulani Ethnic Militias” operating in Benue and Plateau States on its Entities of Particular Concern (EPC) list under the International Religious Freedom Act.
Entities of Particular Concern (EPCs) are non-state actors that have committed especially severe violations of religious freedom under U.S. law.
Christopher’s bill also suggested that the US should provide immediate humanitarian assistance directly to faith-based groups to support internally displaced people in Nigeria’s middle belt states.
The bill also called for conditioning US foreign assistance, including funding through global health programs, on immediate actions to address religious freedom violations.
It urged the development of long-term strategies to promote peace and stability, including requiring the Nigerian government to take swift and effective measures to prevent religious persecution, prosecute those responsible for violence, provide support for millions of internally displaced persons, and uphold constitutional protections for religious freedom.
Christopher’s bill was introduced on the same day that US Senator Ted Cruz announced his commitment to holding Nigerian officials accountable over allegations of genocide against Christians.
Cruz is championing the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, a bill designed to protect Christians and other religious minorities from widespread persecution in Nigeria.
After the CPC designation, Trump also warned of possible military action in Nigeria if its leaders failed to protect Christians in the country.