Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has strongly cautioned US President Donald Trump for oversimplifying Nigeria’s complex security challenges. Speaking on Sunday, Soludo rejected Trump’s recent comments threatening to “protect Christians in Nigeria,” describing them as a superficial take that ignores the country’s reality.
Soludo emphasised that Nigeria’s issues go far beyond a simple Christian-Muslim divide. “People are killing themselves — Christians killing Christians,” he said. “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 further pointed out that while the United States holds the right to its views, any intervention must respect international law and Nigeria’s sovereignty. “As a country, America has a right to hold its own views, but whatever it does must fall within the boundaries of international law,” Soludo said.
Refuting any notion of foreign military intervention, the governor remarked, “If Africa applied President Trump’s logic, we would have invaded the US during the #BlackLivesMatter protests. That would have been absurd.”
Highlighting the need for constructive engagement, Soludo called for diplomatic dialogue to clear misconceptions and tackle the root causes of violence. He noted that many killings in Nigeria’s south-east are driven by internal crises and denied that it is a religious conflict.
Soludo, who is seeking re-election this weekend, said, “There is a need for deeper conversation. The government of Nigeria will respond robustly. Nigeria is a large country, and much is being done to secure it.”
He concluded, “In this part of the country, we are 95 percent Christian. The people in the bushes killing others bear Christian names. It is far beyond a Christian-Muslim categorisation. Nigeria will overcome, and the solution will come through dialogue.”
