Trump claims US strikes in Nigeria curbed killings of Christians

United States President Donald Trump has said military strikes authorised by his administration in Nigeria dealt a major blow to terrorist groups and helped reduce attacks on Christian communities.

Speaking during an event in Washington on Friday, Trump maintained that the operation disrupted the activities of armed groups responsible for widespread killings and sent a strong warning against further violence.

“As you know, we recently struck Nigeria and largely ended the slaughter of great Christian populations,” he said.

Trump alleged that Christians in Nigeria had been subjected to brutal attacks before the military intervention.

“They have a great Christian population. They were being butchered… Thousands and thousands of people were being killed, children, women, old people, just being slaughtered, hacked to death,” he said.

The US president further claimed that the strikes eliminated senior figures within the terrorist groups and weakened their ability to continue attacks.

“They know that if they go further, the attack will be far greater,” he said.

“We hit them very hard. We knocked out their leader. We knocked out their second leader and their third leader.”

Trump compared the action in Nigeria with his administration’s approach towards Iran, arguing that both were intended to prevent more serious security threats.

“It sounds a little bit like Iran, actually… because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let it happen,” he said.

He also insisted that protecting Christians from extremist violence remained a priority for his administration, saying military force would continue to be used against terrorist organisations where necessary.

“So I’m saving Christians throughout the world… I’m saving them by hitting these terrorists very violently and very hard. We know where they are. We hunt them down, and we take them out,” he said.

Trump added that the United States would continue to oppose groups he described as enemies of religious freedom, warning that extremist organisations would face sustained military pressure wherever they operate.