For the last few years, whether it is in Gaza or Ukraine, I’ve heard things like: how would the US or the UK respond if an armed group invaded their borders and slaughtered thousands of Brits or Americans? Unsurprisingly, the answer is almost always that the US or the UK would respond with force—and I mean brutal force—against the armed terrorist group, even if that means launching an offensive attack on the countries where those terrorists operate and live. The US literally got involved and supported Israel in the fight against Iran because an ally nation was attacked or threatened. The UK can, and should, take a similar stance with Nigeria.
According to Business Insider Africa, UK-Nigeria trade hits a record £8.1 billion as Nigerian banks and fintech break into UK markets. This makes the two nations strong, strategic allies bound by deep historical, political, and economic ties. The UK exports critical services such as financial, legal, and tech-driven solutions to Nigeria, and we import crude and refined oil in addition to cocoa and tea from them. On security and defence, the two nations hold the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership dialogue, with the British military directly funding Nigeria’s counter-terrorism operations against groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP.
However, the point is that it’s clearly not working. Christians are still being killed by these terrorists. Nigeria accounts for 72% of all Christians killed globally for their faith; this is entirely unacceptable. We’ve got data published by Open Doors UK & Ireland showing that during the most recent 12-month auditing cycle, 3,490 Christians were documented as explicitly killed for their faith in Nigeria. Last year, the US government threatened to halt direct aid and has authorised military strikes due to the government of Nigeria’s persistent failure to protect the Christian community according to President Trump.