Trump's Threat: NNPP Chieftain Tells US President Actual Challenges
- US President Donald Trump has been urged not to be selective in identifying the victims of insecurity in Nigeria
- Damilare Athanda, an NNPP chieftain, made the call on the US president while speaking in an exclusive interview with Legit.ng
- According to the NNPP chieftain, the causes of insecurity in Nigeria are unemployment and poverty, elite exploitation of ethnicity and religious differences, corruption and many others
Damilare Athanda, a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Ogun state, has urged United States President Donald Trump not to be selective in picking the victims of insecurity in Nigeria.
Athanda, in an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, was reacting to the recent Christian genocide claim by the US president, saying that Trump's only assumed that the victims of insecurity in Nigeria were only Christians.
Source: Twitter
Trump names Nigeria in CPC
Trump recently named Nigeria as a country of particular concern, alleging that Nigerian Christians are being targeted by some Islamic extremists, particularly Boko Haram, and threatened to launch military action in Nigeria if the government failed to end the insecurity in the country.
While the allegation has been debunked by the Nigerian authorities, there are indications that the US was planning to establish a military base in Port Harcourt, Nigeria's oil headquarters, which is about 1,370 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the epicentre of the terror activities.
Trump has particularly tackled the Nigerian government over its failure to contain the Islamic militancy in the northern part of Nigeria, which has killed thousands of people. He said that the US military would be made to do the work, and there would be a price for the country to pay.
NNPP chieftain reacts to Trump's allegation
However, the NNPP chieftain blamed the government for allowing the insecurity to have lasted this long. He said:
"The claim by United States President Donald Trump about Christian Genocide in Nigeria is an assumption due to the failure of the federal government to tackle insecurity in the country. The Government seems to look innocent, as if nothing serious is happening
"Nigeria is currently experiencing a series of insecurity, such as terrorism (Boko Haram), banditry, ransom kidnapping, farmers/herdsmen conflicts, unknown gunmen attacks, robbery attacks, religious clashes, ethnic and tribal clashes over the country.
"It is very obvious that the causes of insecurity are the menace of unemployment and poverty, elite exploitation of ethnicity and religious differences, corruption, porous border control and inequality in the country, bad governance and poor leadership.
"My stand as an individual in regards to the claim of Donald Trump about Christian Genocide is imbalanced. Identifying the victims of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and all other forms of insurgency in Nigeria should not be selective."
Source: Getty Images
EU kicks against US to attack Nigeria
Legit.ng earlier reported that the European Union (EU) has taken a stand on US President Donald Trump's allegation against Nigeria.
This came hours after the Chinese authority warned the US to stay out of Nigeria's internal affairs and respect its sovereignty.
Trump had alleged that Nigeria is no longer safe for Christians and threatened to deploy military action in the West African country.
Source: Legit.ng
