ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria would welcome U.S. assistance in fighting Islamist insurgents as long as its territorial integrity is respected, a Nigerian presidency spokesperson said on Sunday, after President Donald Trump threatened military action in the West African country over the treatment of Christians there.
Trump said on Saturday he had asked the Defense Department to prepare for possible “fast” military action in Nigeria if Africa’s most populous country fails to crack down on the killing of Christians.
“We welcome U.S. assistance as long as it recognises our territorial integrity,” Daniel Bwala told Reuters.
“I am sure by the time these two leaders meet and sit, there would be better outcomes in our joint resolve to fight terrorism.”
President Bola Tinubu on Saturday pushed back against claims of religious intolerance and defended his country’s efforts to protect religious freedom.
Nigeria, a country of more than 200 million people, is divided between the largely Muslim north and mostly Christian south.
An Islamist insurgency has dragged for over 15 years and is largely confined to the northeast of the country, which is majority Muslim. While Christians have been killed, most of the victims have been Muslims, analysts say.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Hugh Lawson and David Holmes)
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