Award-winning rapper Nicki Minaj has publicly backed President Donald Trump’s claims that Christians in Nigeria are facing persecution.
Speaking at a United Nations event on Tuesday, the rapper said that in Nigeria, Christians are being targeted. “Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart… simply because of how they pray.”
While her comments reflect growing concern about religious violence in Nigeria, analysts caution that the situation is complex. Armed groups, including jihadist organisations such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have carried out attacks affecting all communities, regardless of faith. Violence in Nigeria’s northern and central regions has included mass killings, abductions, and attacks on both Christians and Muslims.
This week alone, two people were killed in an attack on a church in Kwara state, while 25 girls were abducted from a secondary school in north-western Kebbi state. Sources indicate the girls are Muslim. Two of them later escaped, while a teacher and a security guard — also Muslim — were killed during the attack, according to the BBC.
Earlier this month, Trump said the United States could consider deploying troops or launching airstrikes in Nigeria to stop what he described as the killing of large numbers of Christians. “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a country of particular concern…the United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria and numerous other countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our great Christian population around the world!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s remarks sparked a mix of reactions both in Nigeria and internationally. Some conservative religious groups welcomed his comments, but many Nigerian political leaders and analysts warned that foreign military intervention could worsen existing instability and inflame communal tensions.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has long struggled with sectarian and communal violence. Conflicts often arise from competition over land and resources, political marginalisation, and extremist ideologies. While Christians in the north have faced attacks, Muslims have also been victims of militant violence. Humanitarian groups stress that framing the crisis as targeting one religion risks oversimplifying a complex security situation and could complicate efforts toward local conflict resolution.
The recent violence underscores the broader challenges Nigeria faces in securing rural areas and protecting schools, churches, and other civilian spaces from armed groups. Experts note that the situation requires coordinated security, governance, and community-based solutions rather than solely foreign military involvement.
