Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and former presidential candidate, on Sunday cautioned Nigerians against welcoming US President Donald Trump’s recent threat of military intervention in Nigeria, describing it as “perilous” and urging the country to focus on internal reforms instead of relying on foreign powers.
Sowore was reacting to a post by Trump on Saturday, where he threatened to send US forces into Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing” if the country does not stem what he described as the killing of Christians by Islamists.
Sowore, who handed down the warning through a post shared on his official X handle on Sunday, said that while Trump’s rhetoric about protecting Christians from persecution might appeal to some, history shows US military actions often lead to greater instability.
“The latest threat by US President Donald Trump to launch military action in Nigeria, allegedly to protect Christians, may sound appealing to some. Still, history has shown this to be perilous.
“Whether you are Christian, Muslim, animist, or non-religious, no one should celebrate such rhetoric,” he said, just as he also cited failed interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria as examples, emphasising that Nigeria’s salvation must come from within through accountable leadership that combats corruption and violence.
“The United States and its allies have a long record of military interventions that leave nations more unstable than before.
“They failed to secure peace in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or Syria, and they won’t bring salvation to Nigeria through bombs or boots on the ground.
“What Nigeria truly needs is not a foreign saviour, but legitimate, accountable leadership, one that protects all citizens, upholds justice, and ends the cycles of corruption and violence that have left the nation broken, ” he wrote, just as he also added that “Donald Trump does not care about Nigerians, not Christians, Muslims, or anyone else.
“Our deliverance will never come from abroad; it must come from within, through real leadership and national renewal.”
Sowore’s latest comment arises following Trump escalated pressure on Nigeria over alleged religious persecution.
Recall that on Friday, Trump declared Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ in response to allegations of a Christian genocide in the country.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern.’
“But that is the least of it. When Christians, or any such group, are slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done!
“I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter and report back to me.”
In his further pressure on Saturday, the Republican leader — who had campaigned unsuccessfully for the Nobel Peace Prize — said he asked the Pentagon to map out a possible plan of attack.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA 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,” he wrote.
“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,” he added.
Trump’s actions follow petitions by a US lawmaker, Riley Moore, who urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take immediate diplomatic action over what he described as the “systematic persecution and slaughter of Christians” in Nigeria, which he called the deadliest place in the world for followers of the faith.
In Moore’s October 6 statement, the lawmaker called for Nigeria’s redesignation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and for the suspension of arms sales until the Nigerian government demonstrates a “tangible commitment” to ending the violence.
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