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The Trump Administration is promoting efforts to work with Nigeria’s government to stop violence against Christians after the President had threatened to send in the U.S. military against Islamic militants.
Right now, 253 children and 12 teachers are still being held after they were taken last week from a Catholic school in eastern Nigeria. A total of 303 students were initially abducted, but 50 managed to escape.
Earlier in the week, another 25 children, most of them Muslim, were kidnapped in a separate attack in eastern Nigeria.
Nigeria remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for Christians. Open Doors reports 69 percent of all Christians killed for their faith around the world last year were murdered in that country.
“Today we speak of blood,” warned Mike Waltz, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. “We speak of the blood that still cries from Nigerian soil.”
Just last week, Waltz joined recording artist Nicki Minaj and faith leaders to spotlight the escalating violence.
“In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes, and killed,” said Minaj. “Churches have been burned. Families have been torn apart. And entire communities live in fear constantly, simply because of how they pray.”
The U.S. gives Nigeria about one billion dollars in aid each year. President Trump has threatened to cut that aid and impose sanctions, accusing the government of failing to stop “horrible atrocities.”
“They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” Trump said during an interview on Air Force One earlier this month.
“The conditionality will say, ‘You really make serious effort to mitigate and end this horrific slaughter, or you lose that aid,'” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
For now, the Nigerian government is facing mounting pressure at home and abroad, but families say what they need most is action, and the safe return of every child still missing.
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