The statement comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to deploy the military against “Islamist terrorists” in Nigeria. He is demanding that the country stop what he claims is an ongoing mass killing of Christians. Trump has also written on Truth Social that all aid to Nigeria is being stopped.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu met with Trump on Saturday and emphasized that the country "opposes religious persecution."
"Religious freedom and tolerance have been a central part of our collective identity and will always remain so," the president wrote on social media.
While presidential spokesman Daniel Bwala now says that help is welcome, he stresses that Nigeria's territorial integrity must be respected. He also suggests that a meeting between the leaders could take place very soon, even in the coming days.
Bwala tells the AFP news agency that they do not take Trump's statement "literally".
We know that Donald Trump has his own way of communicating, he says.
The northern parts of Africa's most populous state are dominated by Muslims, while most Christians live in the south. In recent years, the Islamist extremist movement Boko Haram has terrorized the population in the north, with mainly Muslim victims, according to analyses.
