Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has condemned threats by United States President Donald Trump to invade Nigeria and eliminate those allegedly responsible for the persecution and killings of Christians.
During an appearance on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics monitored in Awka, the state capital, Soludo questioned the motive behind Trump’s statement, asking, “What are you coming to Nigeria to do? To beat the policeman? The government or take over policing…”
Trump had recently declared Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, citing alleged genocide against Christians by Islamist terrorists. He further threatened to halt all U.S. aid to Nigeria and invade the country if the government failed to stop the killings.
Reacting to the development, Soludo said the Nigerian government must respond with facts and engage in a “deeper conversation,” while acknowledging that America has the right to express its views within the framework of international law.
He stated, “The role of the Nigerian government in protecting lives and properties, the record needs to be clear. I think it is a matter of conversation. As a country, America has its own rights to have its own views about what is going on elsewhere, but when it comes to what it does, I am sure it must also do what it does in terms of its own response within the realm of its own international law. But there is a deeper conversation. Our introspection about what goes on in the country. In this part of the world, Eastern Nigeria, it is not religious. People are killing themselves, Christians killing Christians, the people in the bushes are Emmanuel, Peter, John, all Christian names, and they have maimed and killed thousands of our youths, it has nothing to do with religion. Certainly, if Nigeria requests any assistance for the military, technology and hardware to deal with insurgency, then it is within Nigeria’s call.”
Citing America’s own domestic issues, Soludo drew parallels with racial violence in the U.S., referencing the Black Lives Matter protests. “You have policemen killing some blacks… I remember the Black Lives Matter protest, and somebody will say maybe Africa should go and invade America because blacks are being killed. I am not quite sure because that is the way I see it,” he said.
He emphasized the importance of dialogue, saying, “I think there is a need for deeper conversation. It must end in conversation, and I am sure the government of Nigeria will respond very robustly on behalf of Nigeria. Nigeria is such a big country, and the government is doing a whole lot to safeguard the country.”
Soludo further explained that the violence in parts of the Southeast was not religiously motivated. “In this part of the country, we are 95 per cent Christians, and around the southeast are Christians. The people in the bushes killing people bear Christian names; it is wider than the categorisation of Christians, Muslims. Nigeria will overcome and it will end in conversation,” he said.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has repeatedly pushed for Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern, as stated in its July 2025 report. This recommendation led to the State Department’s 2020 decision to list Nigeria under the CPC category, which was later revoked in 2021.
According to USCIRF, Nigeria had failed to protect religious freedom, tolerated violence by non-state actors, and reacted slowly to terrorist attacks on both Christian and Muslim communities. It also highlighted concerns over state-enforced blasphemy laws in 12 northern states, which have been used to prosecute individuals for alleged insults to religion.
