Nigerian Agency Claims Trump Misled by ‘Faulty Intelligence’ on Christian Killings
The Director-General of Nigeria’s National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, has sharply criticized former U.S. President Donald Trump over his allegations of Christian genocide in Nigeria, attributing the claims to flawed American intelligence gathering.
Speaking at Monday’s monthly National Joint Security Press Briefing in Abuja, Issa-Onilu pointed to historical intelligence failures in Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan as evidence of recurring U.S. assessment errors.
“This is not the first time the intelligence of the United States has failed Americans,” Issa-Onilu stated. “It failed in Iraq where no weapons of mass destruction were found. It failed in Libya and many other cases. I’m certain this represents another error in their intelligence gathering.”
While acknowledging that violence occurs in Nigeria, the NOA director firmly rejected the religious motivation behind Trump’s characterization. “We all know there are killings in Nigeria, but to describe them as genocide against Christians is completely misleading,” he emphasized.
Issa-Onilu’s comments come in response to Trump’s explosive posts on his Truth Social platform over the weekend, where the former president claimed Christianity faced an “existential threat” in Nigeria and announced he had ordered the Pentagon to draft potential attack plans.
Trump warned that if the Nigerian government failed to stop the killings, any U.S. military response would be “fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians.”
Despite calls for dialogue from Nigerian authorities, Trump reinforced his threat on Sunday, suggesting potential intervention through ground troops or airstrikes. “They’re killing Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” he declared.