Trump Orders Pentagon to Prepare Military Options Over Attacks on Christians in Nigeria

Trump Orders Pentagon to Prepare Military Options Over Attacks on Christians in Nigeria
U.S. officials have cautioned that any intervention is unlikely to end the prolonged insurgency
General Dagvin R. M. Anderson is expected to visit Nigeria within the coming weeks

A possible United States military operation in Nigeria has reached an advanced stage following a directive from President Donald Trump to prepare for potential action over what he described as the mass killing of Christians in the country, Eko Hot Blog reports.

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According to a report by The New York Times, the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) submitted contingency plans to the Department of War this week after a request from Secretary Pete Hegseth. The plans reportedly outline several levels of possible engagement aimed at combating terrorist groups in northern Nigeria.

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However, U.S. officials have cautioned that any intervention is unlikely to end the prolonged insurgency that has devastated communities across sectarian lines in Africa’s most populous nation. The insurgency, led by groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), has displaced millions and claimed thousands of lives over more than a decade.

According to The New York Times, American forces could conduct limited airstrikes on known militant compounds using drones such as the MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predator, or collaborate with Nigerian troops to carry out targeted raids. However, officials stressed that such operations would have a limited effect without a large-scale campaign similar to U.S. involvement in Iraq or Afghanistan, an approach that no senior official currently supports.

“It would be a fiasco,” said retired Major General Paul D. Eaton, a veteran of the Iraq War. “The American public has no appetite for another full-scale military campaign in Africa.”

Trump Orders Pentagon to Prepare Military Options Over Attacks on Christians in Nigeria

The AFRICOM command, based in Stuttgart, Germany, reportedly sent three sets of plans—light, medium, and heavy options—to the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. Each was designed to allow a measured escalation, depending on developments in Nigeria and White House directives.

General Dagvin R. M. Anderson, the recently appointed AFRICOM commander, is expected to visit Nigeria within the coming weeks. Sources said the trip had been planned before the current tensions but could now take on greater significance given Washington’s renewed focus on the region.

President Trump, in an X post on Friday, reaffirmed his commitment to protecting Christians in Nigeria, calling the situation “an existential threat to Christianity.”

He wrote: “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.’ The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria and other countries. We stand ready, willing and able to save our great Christian population around the world.”

The president’s remarks and the subsequent military planning mark a significant escalation in U.S. attention toward Nigeria’s security crisis, which has drawn growing international concern over the years.