Nigerian Presidency: We are ready to cooperate and welcome American support to defeat terrorism.

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Gulf - Agencies: A spokesman for the Nigerian presidency said on Sunday that his country welcomes US assistance in "fighting insurgents as long as its territorial integrity is respected," according to Reuters. This came after US President Donald Trump threatened to carry out military action in the country because of the way Christians are treated there. Trump said on Saturday that he had asked the Department of Defense to prepare for any possible military intervention in Nigeria if the Abuja government "continues" to "allow the killing of Christians." Trump added, in a post on the Truth Social platform, that the United States may intervene "to completely eliminate the Islamic terrorists who are committing these terrible atrocities." Ethnic conflicts have burdened Nigeria, especially in its northeastern region at the center of the Boko Haram insurgency, whose attacks have killed more than 40,000 people and displaced more than two million since 2009, according to the United Nations. Boko Haram and a splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province, remain active despite being weakened in recent years, while central Nigeria is witnessing frequent conflicts between Muslim herders and often Christian farmers over competition for land and resources rather than direct religious conflict. In the northwest, communities are terrorized by criminal gangs known locally as "bandits," who attack villages, kill, kidnap for ransom, and set fire to homes after looting them.