Name: Muslim cleric urges Nigeria to cut U.S. ties over Trump remarks
Uploaded: 2025-11-04T18:37:44.576Z
Duration: 2 min 51 s
Description: A senior Muslim cleric has urged Nigeria to cut ties with the United States over comments by Donald Trump threatening military action over the killing of Christians by Islamist insurgents.

A senior Muslim cleric has urged Nigeria to cut ties with the United States over comments by Donald Trump threatening military action over the killing of Christians by Islamist insurgents.

Abuja

A leading Muslim cleric in Nigeria has called for the country to cut diplomatic ties with the United States after President Donald Trump threatened military action if Nigeria did not address what he described as the killing of Christians by Islamist insurgents. The cleric, Ahmed Gumi, urged the Nigerian government to demand a retraction of the threat, labeling it a direct provocation.

Nigerian officials, including President Bola Tonobu and Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuga, have rejected accusations of religious intolerance and emphasized the nation's commitment to religious freedom and the rule of law. Data from the US crisis monitoring group Akhled indicates that the majority of attacks in Nigeria are not religiously motivated, and claims of mass Christian killings are not supported by available evidence.

Muslim cleric urges Nigeria to cut U.S. ties over Trump remarks

A leading Muslim cleric has urged Nigeria to cut ties with the United States over President Donald Trump's threat of military action. At the weekend, Trump warned of possible military action, with guns a-blazing, if Nigeria failed to crack down on what he called the killing of large numbers of Christians by Islamist insurgents. Nigeria's President Bola Tonobu has pushed back against accusations of religious intolerance and defended his country's efforts to protect religious freedom, while Nigeria's chief of defence staff said on Monday that what the country faces is terrorism, not the persecution of Christians. In Nigeria's northern Kano state on Tuesday, cleric Ahmed Gumi said Nigeria should warn Trump to retract his threat. Because it's a direct threat, even ordering the Pentagon to be ready to attack Nigeria for what? The president should retract such threat or else we sever our relationship with America until when Americans will have the sense to elect a president that is civil. Trump has also said his administration would immediately halt all aid and assistance to Nigeria. The Nigerian government has said it would welcome US help in fighting insurgent groups as long as its territorial integrity is respected. Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuga in Germany on Tuesday emphasised his country's constitutional commitment to religious freedom and the rule of law. This is what guides us and this is what shows that it's impossible for there to be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with more than 200 million people, is divided between the largely Muslim north and mostly Christian south. Insurgent groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa province have wrought havoc in the country for more than 15 years. Thousands of people have been killed but the attacks have largely been confined to the majority Muslim north-east of the country. Research from US crisis monitoring group Akhled shows that out of 1,923 attacks on civilians in Nigeria so far this year, the number of those targeting Christians because of their religion stood at 50. A senior research analyst at Akhled said recent claims circulating in some US right-wing circles that as many as 100,000 Christians had been killed in Nigeria since 2009 are not supported by available data.

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