Nigerian mission chief calls Trump’s military threat to Nigeria ‘answered prayer’

A Nigerian mission chief says President Donald Trump’s efforts to end violence against Christians in his country are an “answered prayer.”

Andrew Gwaivangmin, executive secretary of the Nigeria Evangelical Mission Association, told Fox News in an interview that Christians are “excited” that Trump is prioritizing efforts to end the killings of believers after years of bloodshed.

“We have cried out to the international community to force our government to do the right thing. This is the only time America has focused attention on this violence in Nigeria. So, as a Christian, I am excited,” he said.

“I am glad that Trump is working to ensure that this violence stops. Anyone who does not support Trump’s intervention clearly knows that he does not understand the reality and severity of the violence that has taken place in northern Nigeria over the past 10 years.”

Catholics gather for mass at the Church of the Assumption in Lagos on April 21, 2025, as tensions rise following US President Donald Trump’s renewed threat of military action in Nigeria over the killings of Christians. (Olympia De Maismont/AFP via Getty Images)

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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 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, 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.”

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

Gwaivangmin told Fox News that many missionaries from his organization had been attacked and killed.

“We had casualties. We had to bury our missionaries. Our missionaries had to move straight away. In fact, I can tell you that today we have hundreds of widows whose husbands were killed in their fields as missionaries,” he said.

Catholics gather for mass at the Church of the Assumption in Lagos on April 21, 2025. (Olympia De Maismont/AFP via Getty Images)

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“It is not easy to be a Christian in Nigeria and unfortunately our government does not seem to care about holding people to account for all the killings, the massacres that are taking place in this country,” Gwaivangmin added.

The head of the world’s largest mission organization for the Nigerian Christian Church said he would welcome the involvement of the US military to help end the violence. He believes having American troops on the ground is unrealistic, but hopes the United States can provide logistical support and equipment to bolster Nigerian forces.