A yearslong push by Christian activists and Republican lawmakers drove US President Donald Trump to combat what he called a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria, The New York Times reported.
Thousands are killed annually in Nigeria: The violence is multifaceted — as well as sectarian tensions, there are kidnappings for ransom and battles over land — but a Washington lobbying campaign centered the targeting of Christians, in part leading to the US launching a series of cruise missile strikes against Islamist targets in the northwest on Christmas Day.
The move, like the Trump administration’s pressure on South Africa over its purported discrimination against white people, has upended domestic politics and foreign policy in Africa’s two largest economies.