The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by Sierra Leone President, Julius Maada Bio, has yet to make any official statement on the growing diplomatic row between Nigeria and the United States following President Donald Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and his threat of possible military intervention.
Naijaonpoint recalls that President Trump, on the 31st of October, announced that Nigeria had been placed back on the CPC list over alleged persecution of Christians and what he described as “genocide-like killings.”
“The United States will not stand by while Christians are being slaughtered in Nigeria,” Trump said, adding that his administration was considering “fast, vicious, and decisive” military action to end the violence.
His remarks came after several members of the U.S. Congress reportedly pressured him to act, citing reports of religiously motivated attacks in parts of northern Nigeria.
President Bola Tinubu swiftly rejected the U.S. decision, insisting that religious persecution has no place in Nigeria, and that the country’s constitution guarantees freedom of worship for all faiths.
The Nigerian government also dismissed Trump’s threat as “misinformed and unnecessary,” arguing that the violence in parts of the country was driven by criminality and insecurity, not religion.
Despite the firm response from Abuja, Trump doubled down on his earlier statement, saying the U.S. was “ready to act” if the Nigerian government failed to protect Christians and curb extremist violence.
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