United States Congressman Bill Huizenga has said US President Donald Trump is unlikely to launch military action following the latter’s threat to go ‘guns-ablazing’ in Nigeria.
Huizenga said this in an interview with Arise TV published on Tuesday.
This was as the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said that diploma tic efforts between Nigeria and the United States were yielding results amid recent tensions between both governments.
In late October, Trump said he had ordered the U.S. Department of War to ‘prepare for possible action’ in Nigeria over the alleged Christian genocide.
According to the US lawmaker, Trump probably wanted the killings allegedly targeted at Christians and other Nigerians to end.
Huizenga, who said he was surprised by Trump’s comments, noted that he did not think the US President’s priority was a military intervention in Nigeria.
He said, ‘I too was surprised by the comments that they came out; that the President came out that forcefully. I suspect that that is not a high priority of having actual military intervention, specifically in Nigeria. But I think he does want to make sure that, from his view, the genocide that is happening specifically against Christians, but also others in Nigeria, needs to stop. While I don’t envision a surprise attack, I don’t envision that there’s going to be a military response.
‘First, as we had talked about, I would first and foremost encourage them to look at the economic pressure and sanctions on both individuals and organisations. I think that would be the most effective.
‘Frankly, this President has been someone who has pursued peace rather than just expanding war. So I think he would be very selective before he did anything militarily’.
According to him, economic sanctions will deter terrorists from funding their activities.
‘Sanctions really cut off the flow of money, cut off the flow of travel. We don’t know who exactly is financing much of these operations from the Fulani or Boko Haram in the past. And what I do know is, though, if we put economic pressure on them and the inability to move money around, that will have an impact, I think a positive impact’.
He urged the Nigerian government to take action to check insecurity in the country.
Huizenga appears not to be the first to believe Trump might not launch military action in Nigeria.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Trump’s threat surprised some of his aides and even key players in the campaign against ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria.
It reported that the threat caught many off guard and generated immediate concern within the United States Africa Command, which directs American military operations across the continent.
On Tuesday, Nigerian information minister said, ‘Channels of communication have been opened, I can confirm that; we are talking to them, and I think they are understanding the situation better.
According to a statement by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim, the minister spoke on Monday in an interview on Sky News’ The World With Yalda Hakim.
Idris said, ‘We believe that most of the information is a result of a lack of a proper understanding of the diversity and complexity of the problem we have at hand’.
He alleged that certain lobby groups in the US are linked to a proscribed separatist organisation in Nigeria and are working to misinform American authorities.
‘Let me also put it out there that we are seeing a direct connection between (US) lobbyists and (a) proscribed terrorist organisation in Nigeria, and we have seen how they have set up this lobby in the US, contacting high-up people in the United States to help them to lobby’, he said.
Idris noted that Nigeria still values its long-standing security partnership with Washington and called for continued collaboration in combating terrorism.
‘What we are saying is that, yes, indeed, the situation is there, we have conflict in Nigeria, we have a security situation in Nigeria, but in the past the United States government has helped Nigerian authorities to deal with this situation; so we are calling on them to partner with us once again, to help push this, and then we have peace once and for all in our country’, he said.
The minister expressed surprise at some figures and positions from the US government regarding Nigeria’s internal challenges, urging a better understanding of the country’s realities.
‘We want to tell the world that this is not the case, and to appeal to them, (that) we share the concern of people from our country, and we also share the concern of the international community, including the United States, about some of these killings going on.
‘But what we want at this point is an understanding of the diversity and the complexity of the situation’, he said.
Idris also questioned the credibility of the data being used to support allegations of religious intolerance in Nigeria.
‘Some of the assumptions are based on data that largely cannot stand any scientific scrutiny’, he said.
He also maintained that the Nigerian constitution enshrines religious freedom and that the country remains a multi-faith nation, despite the conflict, which he said was not based on religious persecution.
