Nicki Minaj uses UN stage to highlight persecution of Christians in Nigeria

Rapper Nicki Minaj brought her star power to the United Nations to bring global attention to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

Trinidad and Tobago-born Minaj joined President Donald Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, to speak at an event hosted by the U.S. mission to the United Nations that highlighted religious violence and killings of Christians in Africa’s most populous country.

The rap mogul said she wanted to speak out against injustice and stand up for people who are persecuted for their beliefs.

“In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes and killed. Churches have been burned. Families have been torn apart and entire communities live in constant fear, simply because of the way they pray,” she told participants.

RAP STAR NICKI MINAJ THANKS TRUMP FOR FIGHT AGAINST PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN NIGERIA

Nicki Minaj leaves the podium after speaking during the panel “Combating Religious Violence and the Murder of Christians in Nigeria” at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York, November 18, 2025. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

“Unfortunately, this problem is not only growing in Nigeria, but also in many other countries around the world, and it requires urgent action,” Minaj said. “And I want to be clear: Protecting Christians in Nigeria is not about taking sides or dividing people. It is about uniting humanity.”

Minaj, who has been a strong supporter of the Trump administration’s actions to combat the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, appeared to distance herself from politics. Speaking directly to her fans, who she calls “Barbz,” she once again said she doesn’t “take sides.”

“Barbz, I know you’re out there listening. I love you so much. You’ve been the ultimate light in my life and my career for so long. I appreciate you and I want to make it very clear – again – that this isn’t about taking sides. It’s about standing up in the face of injustice. It’s about what I’ve always stood for my entire career. And I will continue to stand for it for the rest of my life. I will care if someone, somewhere is being persecuted for their beliefs,” Minaj said.

Waltz also spoke out, calling the killings of Christians in Nigeria a “genocide wearing the mask of chaos.”

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz speaks during a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the issue of Palestinian statehood, during the United Nations General Assembly, September 23, 2025, at UN headquarters in New York. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“There is a body of evidence, and you’re going to hear from our experts today, that paints a very grim picture of disproportionate suffering among Christians, where, again, families are being torn apart, clergy are being murdered repeatedly and entire congregations, religious congregations,” he said.

“My friends, we have an entire faith that is being erased. One bullet at a time, one Bible burned at a time.”

Nicki Minaj is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz before a panel discussion titled “Combating Religious Violence and the Murder of Christians in Nigeria” at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York on November 18, 2025. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

The event featuring Waltz and Minaj came after Trump threatened, in a November Truth Social article, to send U.S. troops “with guns blazing” to Africa’s most populous country to “completely eliminate the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrific atrocities.”

The president also threatened to end all aid and assistance if the violence continued.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu responded to Trump’s threat by writing on social media that his administration had worked with Christian and Muslim leaders to address security challenges affecting citizens of all faiths and regions.

“The characterization of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality nor does it take into consideration the government’s consistent and sincere efforts to safeguard the freedom of religion and belief of all Nigerians,” he wrote on X.

“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a fundamental tenet of our collective identity and always will be. Nigeria opposes and does not encourage religious persecution.”

Trump names Nigeria as ‘particularly concerned’ about widespread persecution and killings of Christians

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu speaks with his aide during the 64th ordinary session of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Abuja on December 10, 2023. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images)

Open Doors, an international Christian organization that supports persecuted believers, said attacks are more common in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority northern states, but have begun to spread to the Middle Belt and further south.

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The organization said Christians are at risk of targeted attacks by Islamist militants, including Fulani and Boko Haram fighters, and that women are often killed and subjected to sexual violence.