美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯(Pete Hegseth)和参谋长联席会议主席丹·凯恩(Dan Caine)将军计划在周四晚上与尼日利亚国家安全顾问会面，此前唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统威胁要派遣美国军队进入该国，以“消灭伊斯兰恐怖分子”，他说这些恐怖分子正在杀害基督徒。
两位国防部官员证实，这次会议并不包括在Hegseth或Caine的公开日程中，Mallam Nuhu Ribadu抵达五角大楼也没有对媒体开放。
国防部也没有回答有关该小组计划讨论什么以及军方是否会改变在非洲的姿态的问题，军方官员长期以来一直警告说，非洲已经成为世界上极端恐怖主义的温床。
本月早些时候，特朗普命令国防部准备在尼日利亚采取可能的“快速”军事行动，如果那里的政府不采取更多措施防止杀害基督徒的话。尼日利亚的暴力事件一直是福克斯新闻频道和基督教政治右翼广泛报道的焦点，包括得克萨斯州共和党参议员特德·克鲁兹和弗吉尼亚州共和党众议员赖利·摩尔
包括武装冲突地点和事件数据项目在内的独立危机监测组织表示，近年来，尼日利亚有数万名平民被杀，但这些数字代表了穆斯林和基督徒。
11月1日，特朗普在其社交媒体平台上的一篇帖子中写道，“如果尼日利亚政府继续允许杀害基督徒，美国将立即停止对尼日利亚的所有援助和协助，并很可能进入那个现已名誉扫地的国家，‘擦枪走火’，彻底消灭犯下这些可怕暴行的伊斯兰恐怖分子。我在此指示我们的陆军部准备可能的行动。如果我们攻击，那将是快速、恶毒和甜蜜的，就像恐怖分子袭击我们珍爱的基督徒一样!警告:尼日利亚政府最好动作快点!”
赫格塞斯很快回复了特朗普的帖子“是的，先生”，并补充说“陆军部正在准备行动。”
特朗普还将尼日利亚重新列入美国称违反宗教自由的国家名单。
尼日利亚政府拒绝将它列为“特别关注的国家”。那里的官员说，声称它没有因为人们的宗教信仰而保护他们是基于错误的信息和错误的数据。
尼日利亚总统博拉·艾哈迈德·提努布(Bola Ahmed Tinubu)表示，“将尼日利亚定性为宗教不容忍并不反映我们的国家现实，也没有考虑到政府为保障所有尼日利亚人的宗教和信仰自由所做的一贯和真诚的努力。”
向尼日利亚派遣美国地面部队将带来巨大的后勤和安全挑战，因为尼日利亚地势偏远，边境管理松懈，民众可能会对外国存在感到愤怒。有6500名军事人员部署在非洲各地，主要从事反恐任务。但是在尼日利亚的唯一人员是大使馆工作人员，在西非或萨赫勒地区没有长期驻军，军方警告说，那里是极端主义的温床。
鉴于美国在邻国尼日尔发生军事政变后被迫撤离该国的反恐基地，在西非实施无人机袭击在后勤上也可能存在困难。
副助理国务卿雅各布·麦基向记者表示，与尼日利亚官员的“坦诚对话”正在产生预期的影响。
“我认为特朗普总统实际上将尼日利亚列为特别关注国家的大胆行动受到了几乎所有民间社会和宗教活动团体的欢迎，并引起了尼日利亚官员的注意。因此，我们正在进行坦率的对话，”麦基说。
据众议员摩尔说，一个尼日利亚代表团本周也会见了国会议员。
摩尔在一份声明中说:“我非常清楚地表明，美国必须采取切实措施，确保基督徒不会仅仅因为相信我们的主和救世主耶稣基督而遭受暴力、迫害、流离失所和死亡。”
Hegseth meets with Nigerian official at Pentagon following Trump threats
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine planned to meet with Nigeria’s national security adviser on Thursday evening, following President Donald Trump's threats to send U.S. troops into the country with "guns-a-blazing" to "wipe out the Islamic Terrorists" he said were killing Christians.
The meeting, confirmed by two defense officials, was not included on Hegseth or Caine’s public schedules, and the arrival of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu at the Pentagon was not open to the press.
The Defense Department, which Hegseth now refers to as the Department of War, also did not answer questions about what the group planned to discuss and whether the military would change its posture in Africa, which military officials have long warned has become the world’s hotbed for extremist terrorism.
Earlier this month, Trump ordered the Defense Department to prepare for possible "fast" military action in Nigeria if the government there didn’t do more to prevent the killing of Christians. The violence in Nigeria had been the focus of extensive coverage by Fox News and the Christian political right including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Riley Moore, R-W. Va.
Independent crisis-monitoring groups, including the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, say tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Nigeria in recent years but say the tally represents both Muslims and Christians.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump wrote on Nov. 1, "if the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, 'guns-a-blazing,' to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities. I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!"
Hegseth quickly responded to Trump’s post with a "Yes sir," adding “the Department of War is preparing for action."
Trump also put Nigeria back on a list of countries that the U.S. says have violated religious freedom.
Nigeria’s government has rejected the designation as a "country of particular concern." Officials there say the allegation that it's not protecting groups of people because of their religious beliefs was based on misinformation and faulty data.
Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said "the characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians."
Sending U.S. ground troops into Nigeria would pose significant logistical and security challenges, due to Nigeria’s remote terrain, porous borders and a population likely to bristle at a foreign presence. There are 6,500 military personnel deployed across Africa, primarily focused on counterterrorism missions. But the only personnel in Nigeria are embassy staff with no persistent presence of troops in West Africa or the Sahel region, which military warns is a hotbed for extremism.
Conducting drone attacks in West Africa also could be logistically difficult, given that the U.S. was forced to vacate counterterrorism bases in neighboring Niger after a military coup there.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jacob McGee suggested to reporter that the "frank conversations" with Nigerian officials was having the desired impact.
"I think President Trump's bold action to actually label Nigeria a country of particular concern was welcomed by almost across the board civil society and religious activist groups, and it's gotten Nigerian officials' attention. So, we're having frank conversations,” McGee said.
A Nigerian delegation also met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, according to Rep. Moore.
"I made it crystal clear that the United States must see tangible steps to ensure that Christians are not subject to violence, persecution, displacement, and death simply for believing in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," Moore said in a statement.
