United States (U.S) President Donald Trump has shone the spotlight on Nigeria once again after he shared a video of a Christian pastor from Plateau State, Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo.
The viral video shared by Trump features an emotional appeal from a Plateau Pastor detailing targeted attacks on agrarian communities.
Trump posted the video on his official Truth Social account on Saturday.
In the clip, which first went viral about six months ago, Reverend Dachomo is seen speaking at the burial of Christians he alleged were victims of targeted killings.
He said: “Look at it today. Is there any Muslim here? United Nations, I know you are watching me. American Senate, you are watching what I’m saying here. Special Adviser to Trump, please tell Trump to save our lives in Nigeria. They are killing Christians in Nigeria — massacring Christians. If they say Muslims are being killed, by whom? By Muslims.”
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the development comes hours after Trump announced that U.S forces, operating alongside the Nigerian Armed Forces, carried out a joint operation that resulted in the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as the second-in-command of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria globally.
In a statement on Truth Social, Trump said the operation was carefully planned and executed with intelligence support that tracked the terrorist leader’s activities across Africa.
He said the mission was aimed at eliminating one of the world’s most active terrorist figures, whom he accused of coordinating attacks and backing operations that targeted both Americans and African communities.
Trump added that al-Minuki’s death would significantly weaken ISIS’s global operations and diminish the group’s foothold across the African continent.
President Bola Tinubu has also announced the killing of Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki during a joint operation carried out by Nigerian and United States forces in the Lake Chad Basin.
In a statement personally signed on Saturday, Tinubu stated that the operation marked “a significant example of effective collaboration in the fight against terrorism” between the two countries.
The President said Nigerian troops, working with the US Armed Forces, carried out “a daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State.”
This also comes after Trump designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over religious persecution in the country.
However, the Nigerian government has strongly pushed back against the narrative of a faith-based cleansing. The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu defended the nation’s security record, insisting that allegations of a Christian genocide in Nigeria do not reflect the complex socio-economic and security realities on the ground.
Despite the pushback, the Nigerian government has been collaborating with the U.S government over efforts to tackle insecurity challenges in Nigeria.
