- Killing of Christians in Nigeria not Acceptable, Trump Says
President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, on Monday said recent killing of Christians in Nigeria were not acceptable to his government.
He said his government and that of Nigeria would be working hard to resolve the problem.
Trump said this shortly before he entered into a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at his Oval Office in the White House, Washington, D.C.
“We have met before, we have a great relationship. I look forward to our discussion today again, especially as it relates to terrorism. Terrorism here, terrorism all over the world is a hotbed and we are going to be stopping them.
“Also, we have had very serious problems with Christians who are being murdered in Nigeria. We are going to be working on that problem very, very hard because we cannot allow that to happen,” he said.
Trump, who said his government had decimated ISIS over the last 12 months, said Boko Haram had been terrible.
He then asked Buhari how he was handling the issue of the abducted Chibok and Dapchi girls.
The President said his administration had not given up on the remaining Dapchi girl and the Chibok girls.
“Chibok girls’ kidnap was before we came. We rescued some of them.
“The Dapchi girls were 106, we rescued 100 back, four died, one is still in captivity. We are very grateful to the United Nations that is acting as a go-between and is helping out. We have not given up on the Dapchi girl,” he said.
Buhari insisted that the crisis in Libya caused by Muamma Ghadafi was responsible for herdsmen killings.
He thanked the US government for its support in the Federal Government’s fight against terrorism.
He said, “On security, I am very grateful to the United States for agreeing to sell to us the aircraft we asked for and the spare parts.
“We are even more grateful for the physical presence of the United States military who are training in our institutions and who also go to the front in the North East to see how they are doing.
“The commitment of the United States to get rid of terrorism across the world, we have first hand experience of that and we are very grateful for it.
“The problem of cattle herders is a very long historical problem. What is of a concern is that before now the Nigerian herders are known to carry sticks and machetes and cut follies for their animals but these ones are carrying AK 47.
“So I don’t think we should underrate Libya, 43 years of Gaddafi people were being recruited from the Sahel and people were being killed. With his demise, they moved from their country and their region with their training and their weapons and that is what aggravated the situation.
“We are doing our best to make ensure we stop the cross border movement and so on. It will take time.
“We are happy with the United States trying to see the end of ISIS. This has helped us a lot because the Boko Haram in Nigeria had one time made a statement that they belong to ISIS.
“Now that ISIS has been virtually gone we are very happy with that. We are stabilising the situation in Nigeria.”
