Tensions Rise as US Lawmaker Targets China for Supporting Nigeria After Trump’s Military Remarks
A member of the United States House of Representatives, Riley Moore, has hit back at the Peoples Republic of China for throwing weight behind Nigeria amidst threats over alleged Christian genocide saga.
This follows the position taken by the People’s Republic of China, condemning any form of interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs and declaring its strong support for President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government.
Tribune Online reports that China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, described Nigeria as a strategic partner during a press conference while reacting to the recent threat issued by United States President Donald Trump against Nigeria.
Moore, a congressman representing West Virginia’s 2nd District, while reacting on Tuesday via his X page, said President Trump was right in his defense of Christians in Nigeria, questioning China’s authority to decide foreign policy to the U.S.
According to him, a Communist autocracy who he claimed recently arrested 30 Christian pastors for their faith cannot lecture the United States on its foreign affairs.
“President Trump is absolutely right to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering horrific persecution, and even martyrdom, for their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. China will not dictate our foreign policy to us, and we will not be lectured to by a Communist autocracy that recently arrested 30 Christian pastors for their faith and throws ethnic minorities in concentration camps,” Moore’s X post quoting China’s page reads.
Earlier, Tribune Online reports that Trump, in a post on his Truth Social account on Saturday, instructed the U.S. War Department to prepare for possible actions in Nigeria over allegations of Christian killings in the West African nation.
He accused the Nigerian government of turning a blind eye to what he described as the “genocide of Christians” across the country.
Trump warned that the United States would immediately halt all aid and assistance to Nigeria if the attacks on Christians continue.
He also indicated that America might intervene militarily to eliminate what he called “Islamic terrorists” responsible for the killings.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. 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,” Trump wrote.
He further stated, “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! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”
However, the Tinubu-led administration has dismissed the claim, insisting that such claims are not the realities of Nigeria’s security challenges.