Catholic Bishops Oppose Trump's Threat to Invade Nigeria

Abp. Ignatius Kaigama. Photo: Katholisch.de

ABUJA — The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Ignatius Kaigama, has strongly opposed U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of military intervention in Nigeria to protect Christians, warning it would endanger long-term coexistence between Christians and Muslims.

In a statement released Thursday by the Catholic aid organization Missio Aachen, Kaigama argued that a military strike would be counterproductive. Instead, he urged the U.S. to support diplomatic efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s security framework, according to a report from a German Catholic news site, Katholisch.de.

Trump announced last weekend that Nigeria would be placed on a watch list for countries with restricted religious freedom, citing the “slaughter” of Christians by Islamists. The following day, he threatened airstrikes if Nigeria failed to stop the killings. The northeast of the country remains a stronghold of the terrorist group Boko Haram.

Kaigama called on the U.S. to help identify and disrupt funding streams to groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, both domestically and abroad. He also advocated for U.S. assistance in training Nigerian security forces in counterterrorism and combating corruption—measures he said would be far more effective than a “grand military operation.”

The archbishop stressed the need to examine why Nigeria’s security forces have made little progress against widespread violence over the past 15 years.

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