Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has dismissed claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria, insisting that the country’s security crisis is a battle against extremists, not a religious war between Christians and Muslims.
Speaking in an interview with Democracy Now, Soyinka said Trump’s sweeping assertions distorted the reality of Nigeria’s situation and risked deepening sectarian hostilities. “We must separate Nigeria’s long-standing internal problems from President Trump’s recent response,” he stated.
He explained that the conflict stemmed from extremist violence driven by political and economic motives rather than faith-based animosity. “In truth, we are dealing with extremists — political Islamists, known sometimes as ISWAP or Boko Haram — not with Muslims as a people,” Soyinka said.
The Nobel laureate condemned political leaders for exploiting religion to gain power and failing to hold extremists accountable. He recalled the killing of a student accused of blasphemy, lamenting that her killers went unpunished, thereby fuelling the false narrative of a religious war.
Soyinka also criticised Trump’s foreign policy, saying his militaristic approach could worsen instability in Africa. “When we have sweeping statements like Trump’s, it doesn’t make things easier. It expands the regions of hostility and makes peaceful resolution even more difficult,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) urged Nigerians to unite against external threats to national sovereignty, while the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, called for collective action against terrorism.
Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) confirmed that Boko Haram and ISWAP were carrying out mass killings aimed at Islamising the country but clarified that both Christians and Muslims had been victims.
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) described Trump’s threat of military intervention in Nigeria as “reckless and dangerously provocative,” warning that such statements undermined the country’s unity.
Former Alliance for Democracy chieftain Udenta Udenta said Trump’s comments should serve as a wake-up call for the Nigerian government to urgently address insecurity.
