“Move fast or there will be hell to pay,” President Trump renews threat against Nigeria

U.S. President Donald Trump has renewed his threat to take military action against Islamist militants in Nigeria, accusing the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christians from violence.

In a video posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed that Nigerian authorities were not doing enough to stop the killing of Christians and said he had asked the Pentagon to prepare for “possible action” if the situation does not improve.

“The Nigerian government better move fast before its too late,” Trump said. “If they don’t there is going be hell to pay.”

Responding to the remarks, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to protecting people of all faiths. “Nigeria will continue to work with the United States and the international community to ensure religious freedom,”

Tinubu said, adding that the portrayal of Nigeria as religiously intolerant “does not reflect our national reality.”

Nigeria, a nation of roughly 230 million people evenly split between Christians and Muslims, has long faced waves of violence linked to banditry, terrorism, and ethnic clashes.

Since 2020, more than 20,000 people have been killed in such attacks, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), though most incidents were not religiously motivated.

Business Insider Africa previously reported that the prospect of U.S. military intervention could unsettle Nigeria’s fragile economic recovery.

The warning signs were already visible this week, the country’s dollar bonds fell sharply on Monday following Trump’s renewed threats of military action.

The development comes at a delicate moment for one of Africa’s largest economies. After years of stringent monetary tightening, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had only just begun to ease policy in response to slowing inflation and a slight improvement in economic stability. Trump’s remarks, however, risk undermining that fragile investor confidence.