The National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, is currently presiding over an emergency meeting with service chiefs and heads of security and intelligence agencies at the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Abuja.
The high-level meeting, which began on Monday afternoon, follows reports of a directive by U.S. President Donald Trump instructing American defense officials to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria.
A security source told Zagazola Makama that the session aims to assess the implications of President Trump’s statement, in which he accused the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militant groups.
Trump’s remarks, made late Saturday, claimed that the U.S. military was being “prepared to act in Nigeria to tackle Islamist militancy,” a statement that has stirred deep concern across diplomatic and security circles in Abuja.
According to the source, the NSA convened the meeting to coordinate a unified national response and review intelligence assessments regarding the potential fallout of the U.S. president’s pronouncement.
While Trump did not specify which incidents he was referring to, claims of a “genocide against Christians” in Nigeria have been widely circulated among some right-wing groups in the United States in recent months.
However, independent monitoring organisations and analysts have consistently noted that both Christians and Muslims have been victims of terrorism, banditry, and communal violence across Nigeria — with no verifiable evidence of a targeted campaign against any single faith group.
The outcome of Monday’s meeting is expected to be formally communicated through the Office of the National Security Adviser.
