After Venezuela, US dispatches military team to Nigeria amid Trump's calls against 'Christian genocide'

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is in the spotlight after the US confirmed that it had deployed a small military team to the nation to enhance collaboration in combating jihadist violence, a top US general said on Tuesday. According to AFP report, US President Donald Trump's administration alternately pressured the West African country as it fights jihadists.

The two countries had decided to “increase collaboration”, General Dagvin Anderson, who serves as the head of the US Africa Command (Africom) said the days after the United States launched strikes targeting militants in Nigeria.

In a virtual interview, Dagvin Anderson said, “We agreed that we needed to work together on the way forward in the region,” without giving details about the team's activities. Notably, the US launched Tomahawk missiles targeting “terrorist scum” in Nigeria on Christmas Day, 25 December, alleging that they were responsible for killing Nigerian Christians. In the recent military strikes, the US struck IS targets in Sokoto state located in northwestern Nigeria.

Alleging that these US efforts aid the government and aim to augment the country's capabilities to fight jihadist violence, the US Africa Command chief stated, “That has led to increased collaboration between our nations to include a small US team that brings some unique capabilities from the United States in order to augment what Nigeria has been doing for several years.”

The chief last month said that the US military would increase equipment deliveries and intelligence sharing with Nigeria, AFP reported. This move come as a part of its efforts to fight Islamic State group jihadists.

A result of 'Christian genocide'?

In the past, the US President alleged that there is a "genocide" of Christians in Nigeria. Donald Trump had threatened to enter the country “guns-a-blazing” to avenge the “Christian genocide.” However, the Nigerian government rejects all such claims. Trump has alleged there is a "genocide" of Christians in Nigeria, a claim rejected by the Nigerian government and

According to many independent experts, the country's security crises results in the death of both Christians and Muslims, often without distinction.

Moving to Nigeria's religious demographics, we find that it is broadly split between a Christian-majority south and Muslim-majority north. According to Africom, the US military support would be concentrated in northwestern Nigeria and the northeast. Islamist group Boko Haram and a splinter movement, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has been dominant in the region and blamed for nearly two decades of unrest.

This marks first acknowledgment of US forces on the ground in Nigeria since December strikes. This development surfaces almost a month after US forces seized Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, following air strikes on Caracas.

(With inputs from AFP)