Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has faulted US President Donald Trump’s claim that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria, stressing that the country’s security challenges are not rooted in religion.
Speaking during a live media chat broadcast on several national television stations on Sunday, Soludo said the violence in the South-East was not a case of Christians versus Muslims but rather internal conflicts among people of the same faith.
“The people in the bushes are Emmanuel, Peter, John — all Christian names — and they have maimed and killed thousands of our youths. It has nothing to do with religion,” he said. “People are killing themselves, Christians killing Christians.”
Soludo maintained that if the United States intends to assist, it must do so at Nigeria’s invitation and in line with international law.
“As a country, America has its own rights to have its views about what is going on elsewhere, but its actions must also remain within the realm of international law,” he stated.
The governor dismissed Trump’s threat of military intervention as misplaced, drawing a parallel with America’s own racial tensions.
“When police officers were killing blacks in America and the #BlackLivesMatter protests erupted, should Africa have threatened to invade the US? That’s the same logic being applied here,” he said.
Soludo urged for a “deeper conversation” and a “robust diplomatic response” from the Nigerian government, describing Trump’s statement as oversimplifying a complex national issue.
“In this part of the country, we are 95 percent Christian. Nigeria’s insecurity is not about Christians and Muslims; it’s broader and more complicated,” he noted.
He added that Nigeria could seek foreign assistance in areas such as military technology and intelligence, but only through sovereign cooperation — not external threats.
“Nigeria will overcome this challenge, and it will end in dialogue, not division,” Soludo affirmed.
