Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has reacted to U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent comments declaring that Christianity faces an ‘existential threat’ in Nigeria.
The SaharaReporters publisher emphasised that the country’s salvation lies in responsible leadership, not foreign intervention.
PUNCH Online earlier reported that Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday, claimed that ‘radical Islamists’ were responsible for widespread killings of Christians across Nigeria.
He vowed to designate Nigeria as a ‘country of particular concern’, saying the United States ‘cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening’.
‘Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.
‘I am hereby making Nigeria a “country of particular concern”. My administration will stand ready, willing, and able to save our great Christian population around the world’, he wrote.
Reacting in a post via his X handle on Saturday, Sowore described Trump’s concern as misplaced and warned against reducing Nigeria’s complex insecurity to a religious issue.
He said the real threat to Nigerians, regardless of faith, stems from decades of corruption, poor governance, and failed leadership.
‘Nigeria should have long been cited as a Country of Concern for its persistent failure to protect its citizens. At every level, the state has failed to safeguard the vulnerable Christians, Muslims, and traditional believers alike. Children, women, students, workers, and the elderly have all suffered under the weight of corruption and illegitimate leadership’.
He expressed sympathy for Christian communities in some northern states who have faced recurring attacks, but also noted that Muslim populations in the north live under the same terror.
‘I recognise the pain of the Christian communities in Benue, Plateau, Gombe, and Kaduna, who continue to face relentless attacks, just as the Muslim populations in Katsina, Zamfara, Borno, and Yobe also need protection from marauding killers.
‘Across the nation, Nigerians whipped by hunger, poverty, and displacement cry out for safety and dignity’, he said.
Sowore argued that while international attention may draw momentary relief, only genuine homegrown reform can end the cycle of violence and despair.
‘While international attention or special designations might bring temporary relief to some communities, the real solution lies within honest, courageous leadership that values human life and justice above politics.
‘Nigerians must understand that the true solution lies in real leadership, not in outside help. No foreign power can fix what corrupt and careless leaders have broken from within.
‘Our redemption will come from visionary, accountable, and people-centred leadership — one that protects its citizens, unites its people, and rebuilds the nation from the ground up’, he said.
He, therefore, called for visionary, accountable, and people-centred leadership that protects its citizens, unites its people, and rebuilds the nation.
Last month, US lawmaker Riley Moore urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take diplomatic action against what he described as the ‘systematic persecution and slaughter of Christians’ in Nigeria, calling the country ‘the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian’.
Moore also called for the suspension of arms sales to Nigeria until the government demonstrates a tangible commitment to ending the violence.
‘Nigeria has become the deadliest place in the world to be a Christian, and the United States cannot stand idly by’, he wrote.
Meanwhile, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, speaking to CNN earlier in the week, rejected claims that Nigerian terrorists specifically target Christians.
‘Some of the claims made by some officials of the United States are based on faulty data and some assumptions that the victims of this violence are largely Christians. Yes!
‘There are Christians being attacked, but these criminals do not just target one religion. They target Christians. They also target Muslims. We have seen that especially in the northern part of the country’, the minister noted.
