The National Security Adviser, NSA, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, on Monday convened an emergency meeting with service chiefs and heads of security and intelligence agencies following reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had directed preparations for possible military action in Nigeria.
The agenda of the closed-door meeting was not known at the time of filing this report.
The meeting follows reports alleging that US President Donald Trump issued a directive to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria.
The meeting, held at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, NCTC, in Abuja, was aimed at assessing the implications of Trump’s comments and coordinating a unified national security response.
Discussions focused on evaluating intelligence reports and examining potential diplomatic fallout from Trump’s claims that the Nigerian government was not doing enough to protect Christians from extremist attacks.
Report gathered that the US President threatened to deploy military forces to Nigeria if the alleged genocide against Christians was not stopped.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump directed the “Department of War” to prepare for “possible action” if the killings continued.
Trump also warned that the United States would halt all aid and assistance to Nigeria if President Bola Tinubu’s administration failed to end the alleged persecution and killing of Christians.
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“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now-disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.
“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians,” he wrote.
However, independent monitoring groups have pointed out that both Christians and Muslims have been victims of terrorism, banditry, and communal violence in Nigeria, with no verified evidence of targeted persecution against one faith.
Sources at the meeting said the NSA emphasized the need for calm and reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to protecting all citizens, regardless of religion.
The outcome of the meeting is expected to be communicated through an official statement from the Office of the National Security Adviser in due course.