Nigerian President Bola Tinubu is postponing his trip to the G20 summit in South Africa this coming weekend in order to focus his government’s efforts on the abductions of two dozen schoolgirls and a separate attack on a Christian church.
“Disturbed by the security breaches in Kebbi state and Tuesday’s attack by bandits against worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, President Tinubu decided to suspend his departure” to the G20 summit, a spokesperson for the president said.
The G20 summit lasts from Saturday to Sunday. Tinubu was previously set to depart for Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday. It remains unclear if he still plans on attending the summit, which the United States will not be attending.
TRUMP’S THREAT OF MILITARY INTERVENTION IN NIGERIA LIKELY A DIPLOMATIC PRESSURE TACTIC
Earlier this week, 24 schoolgirls were kidnapped in northwestern Nigeria by gunmen who attacked the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi state. Twenty-five girls were initially kidnapped, but one escaped.
No group has claimed responsibility for the abductions, but experts and locals say bandits often attack schools to kidnap people for ransom.
In central Nigeria, armed assailants killed two people in an attack on a Pentecostal church this week. Several others, including the pastor, were abducted.
Video footage of the incident circulated widely on social media, showing congregants fleeing as masked gunmen invaded the church.
The church attack is one example of the broader Christian persecution inflicted by Islamic terrorists in Nigeria that has caught the attention of the Trump administration in recent weeks.
In response to reports of the targeted violence against Christians, President Donald Trump recently declared Nigeria a country of particular concern due to religious freedom violations. The action reversed the Biden administration’s decision to remove the designation from Nigeria in 2021.
Trump also threatened to send the U.S. military to Nigeria if the West African nation’s government doesn’t adequately address the rampant persecution of Christians.
NICKI MINAJ SAYS NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION DEMANDS ‘URGENT ACTION’
The Trump administration further made its stance on the issue clear when Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, labeled the killings of Christians in Nigeria a “genocide” on Tuesday. Previously, an adviser to President Tinubu called the claims of a Christian genocide a “hoax.”
Waltz made the statement during a joint appearance with rapper Nicki Minaj at a U.N. event. Minaj has been following the situation in Nigeria closely and thanked Trump for taking action on the issue.
