US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Nigerian National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu at the Pentagon, calling for urgent action to stop violence against Christians in Nigeria. The meeting followed recent school kidnappings and US President Donald Trump's warnings of potential military response. Hegseth emphasized collaboration to counter threats from terrorists.
On Thursday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held talks with Nigerian National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu at the Pentagon. Hegseth urged Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with 230 million people, to take "both urgent and enduring action to stop violence against Christians," according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. He also expressed Washington's interest in partnering with Abuja "to deter and degrade terrorists that threaten the United States."
The meeting came amid heightened concerns over security in Nigeria, which is roughly divided between a Christian-majority south and Muslim-majority north. Conflicts include jihadist insurgencies that kill both Christians and Muslims indiscriminately, as well as clashes between mostly Muslim herders and mainly Christian farmers over scarce land and resources, exacerbated by population growth and climate change. Experts note that disputes in northcentral Nigeria are primarily resource-driven rather than purely religious.
Ribadu's US tour aimed to dispel notions of targeted Christian persecution, as reported by Daily Trust. This follows US President Donald Trump's recent statement that Christianity faces an "existential threat" in Nigeria, threatening swift US military action if killings continue—a narrative rejected by the Nigerian government.
Recent incidents underscore the urgency. On Friday, armed attackers invaded St. Mary’s Catholic School in Agwara, Niger state, between 1:00 am and 3:00 am, abducting pupils, students, teachers, and shooting a security guard. The exact number remains unconfirmed, the Niger state government said with "deep sadness." This marked the second school abduction in less than a week, after gunmen kidnapped 25 schoolgirls from a secondary school in Kebbi state on Monday. A church attack occurred earlier in the week.
Heavily armed criminal gangs, known locally as "bandits," operate from forest camps in states like Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Niger, launching attacks with little state presence and demanding ransoms. In response, Katsina state ordered the immediate closure of all government schools due to security concerns.