Rap superstar Nicki Minaj recently thanked President Donald Trump for shedding light on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Friday. “The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our great Christian population around the world!”
Minaj, who is open about her Christian faith, said that the president’s statement made her “feel a deep sense of gratitude.”
“Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God. No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other,” Minaj wrote.
“Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror [and] it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice. Thank you to the president [and] his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian. Let’s remember to lift them up in prayer,” she added.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz thanked Minaj for “using your platform to speak out in defense of the Christians being persecuted in Nigeria. We cannot allow this to continue,” Waltz said. “Every brother and sister of Christ must band together and say, ‘Enough!'”
The situation for Christians in Nigeria has become dire. Entire villages have been burned to the ground, worshippers have been murdered at Sunday services, and thousands have been displaced by Islamist groups sweeping through the country.
“Even being conservative, it’s probably 4,000 to 8,000 Christians killed annually,” Mark Walker, Trump’s ambassador-designate for International Religious Freedom, told Fox News Digital. “This has been going on for years from ISWAP to Islamist Fulani ethnic militias, and the Nigerian government has to be much more proactive.”
President Trump said he has directed Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.), Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), and members of the House Appropriations Committee to investigate the situation and report their findings to him. He also announced that he would designate Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC).
According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), countries with the CPC designation have governments that have “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” defined as “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.” This designation stems from the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.
The House Appropriations Committee emphasized the urgency of the matter, stating, “Nigeria is the most dangerous nation on Earth to follow Christ. For simply practicing their faith, Christians are actively being kidnapped, attacked, and slaughtered. With President Trump announcing he will be redesignating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, the United States is making clear in one resolute voice: religious persecution will not be tolerated.”
“The scourge of anti-Christian violence and oppression of other religious minorities by radical Islamic terrorists is an affront to religious freedom. This is a critical step in mobilizing leadership and attention to confront evil extremism,” the committee added.
As the crisis continues to unfold in Nigeria and other countries, voices like Nicki Minaj’s and U.S. officials’ bring attention to the urgent need for action and solidarity in the fight against religious persecution.
