By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
U.S. President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his controversial position on Nigeria, reiterating his intention to take military action over what he described as the killing of Christians in the country.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said his administration was reviewing several options to protect Christians in Nigeria, including the possibility of deploying American troops.
In a short audio clip shared by the official @WhiteHouse handle, the U.S. President repeated his claim that Christians were being killed in large numbers, describing Nigeria as “a very bad country in a very bad part of the world.”
When asked whether he was considering “U.S. boots on the ground or airstrikes,” Trump responded, “Could be. I mean, a lot of things I envisage, a lot of things. They’re killing record numbers of Christians in Nigeria. And they have other countries, very bad also. You know that, that part of the world, very bad. They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that.”
Trump had earlier on Friday announced that Nigeria had been designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” by the United States over the alleged killings of Christians.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The Nigerian government, however, dismissed the U.S. President’s claim, insisting that the country’s security issues are driven by criminal activity rather than religion.
Despite the backlash, Trump doubled down on Saturday, warning that the U.S. might send troops to Nigeria if the government failed to act.
“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,” he said.
“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet.”