The United States Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, Thursday, said the Nigerian Government must do more to protect the Christians and guarantee their right to practise their faith freely and safely.
This latest position followed concerns that the US has expressed over recent reports that gunmen ab-ducted more than 170 Christians in Kaduna State on January 18, across three churches.
This was as the United States President Donald Trump has boasted that American forces were “annihi-lating terrorists who are killing Christians” in Nigeria, claiming the militants had “killed thousands and thousands of Christians.”
At the same time, President Bola Tinubu, has again declarednational security emergencies in vulnerable and high-risk areas across the country.
Speaking in Abuja at the inauguration of the US–Nigeria Joint Working Group, Hooker said the partner-ship between the USand Nigeria was built on shared interests spanning trade and investment, security, energy, and regional stability.
He recalled that on October 31, 2025, Trump had designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Con-cern, but that the two countries had since made significant progress in working together to better pro-tect vulnerable communities.
“I am here today to continue and broaden that partnership,” he said, adding that discussions would fo-cus on deterring violence against Christian communities, prioritising counter-terrorism and insecurity, investigating attacks and holding perpetrators accountable, and reducing killings, forced displacement, and abductions, particularly in the North-Central states.
US Forces ‘Annihilating’ Terrorists in Nigeria, TrumpDeclares
United States President Donald Trump has asserted that American forces were “annihilating terrorists who were killing Christians” in Nigeria, claiming the militants had “killed thousands and thousands of Christians.”
Trump said, “Many good things are happening. In Nigeria, we are annihilating terrorists, who are killing Christians. We’ve hit them very hard. They’ve killed thousands and thousands of Christians.”
He made the remarks during the Board of Peace signing ceremony on the sidelines of the World Eco-nomic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, while discussing what he described as progress in global peace and security efforts.
Trump underscored the importance of the newly unveiled initiative, saying, “What we’re doing is so im-portant. This is something I really wanted to be here and do, and I could think of no better place.”
He also addressed developments in the Middle East, particularly Gaza, insisting the territory must be demilitarised and rebuilt.
“Gaza has to be demilitarised and rebuilt nicely,” he said, warning militant groups to disarm. “If Hamas doesn’t do what they promised, they must lay down arms, or it’ll end them. They grew up with rifles.”
Trump linked both the Middle East and Nigerian security situations to the work of the Board of Peace, which he said was attracting growing international interest.
Regarding the composition of the new peace body, he added:“Everybody wants to be on the Board of Peace. These are just the countries here now; loads more will join.”
Tinubu Beefs Up Security in Weak Villages After Kidnap of 172 Kaduna Worshippers
Voicing the president’s directive, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, said Tinubu has authorised intensified joint security operations and ordered the sustained deployment of security forces to priority locations, particularly communities facing recurrent attacks on civilians and religious groups.
Ribadu stressed that the decisions were not merely policy statements but being matched with concrete action on the ground.
The NSA noted that Nigeria was expanding its early-warning and rapid-response mechanisms, while also developing a national database to serve as a single, authoritative source of accurate and verifiable data on deaths and casualties resulting from violent incidents.
According to him, the initiative would strengthen evidence-based decision-making, enhance accounta-bility, and improve the overall effectiveness of security responses nationwide.
“Alongside these efforts, investigations and prosecutions relating to attacks on religious communities have been intensified to ensure that violence is met not only with force, but with justice and accounta-bility,” Ribadu said.
He emphasised that Nigeria’s plural character made the protection of all citizens non-negotiable.
“Nigeria is a deeply plural society, and the protection of all citizens—Christians, Muslims, and those of other beliefs—is fundamental. Violence framed along religious lines is treated as an attack on the Nige-rian state itself,” he noted.
Ribadu added that government’s response integrates security operations, the rule of law, humanitarian safeguards, and strategic communication, ensuring that operational successes translate into public con-fidence and stronger social cohesion.
“We want Nigerians to know that this partnership is working; that it is delivering tangible gains, and that our collective efforts will continue to yield positive results,” he said.
The NSA further argued that progress should be assessed not by isolated incidents within a complex security environment, but by the overall direction of travel, decisions taken at the highest levels of gov-ernment, and the institutional capacity being built to prevent, respond to, and punish violence wherev-er it occured.
He also highlighted that Nigeria’s partnership with the United States extended beyond security coopera-tion butincluded democratic resilience, respect for the rule of law, regional stability in West Africa, and a shared commitment to preventing extremist and malign actors from exploiting governance gaps or so-cial divisions.
Ribadu said the federal government remained open to refining its approaches, strengthening coopera-tion, and ensuring that the Joint Working Group remained focused on outcomes rather than labels, long-term progress rather than snapshots, and partnership rather than perception.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the bilateral engagement reflected not only a shared commitment to religious freedom and civilian protection, but also a mature strategic relationship founded on trust, candour, and shared responsibility.
He also noted that. the cooperation between the US and Nigeria—spanning military, intelligence, and security collaboration—has delivered tangible operational gains.
These included enhanced intelligence sharing and closer coordination between U.S. AFRICOM and Nige-ria’s military across multiple theatres of operation, including the North-East under Operation Hadin Kai and Operation Fasan Yamma.
Idris added that the US has committed to the timely delivery of outstanding military equipment such as drones, helicopters, platforms, spare parts, and associated support systems procured over the past five years.
He said the US has also indicated its readiness to support Nigeria through the provision of surplus de-fence equipment.
Abbas Urged Security Agencies to Rescue Kaduna Worshippers, Apprehend Suspects
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has called on the security agencies to rescue the about 172 worshippers recently abducted by suspected terrorists and apprehend the sus-pects.
The Speaker, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Krishi, condemned the attack on the churches and bemoaned the recent mass kidnappings in parts of the country.
Abbas lamented that soft targets like schools and places of worship have been attacked in recent times.
Abbas, who restated his confidence in the President Bola Tinubu administration to reverse the trend, called for collective efforts towards making Nigeria a safe place for people, property, and businesses.
He commended the courage of the Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, for providing the need-ed leadership at the sub-national level at this critical time, noting that Kaduna has witnessed relative peace since the governor assumed office in May 2023.
He said the governor’s visit to the Kurmin Wali community on Wednesday was a testament to his com-mitment and determination to secure the people’s lives and property in the state.
Chuks Okocha, Michael Olugbode, Adedayo Akinwale, Linus Aleke and John Shiklam
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