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Sierra Leonean political activist and former Minister of Social Welfare, Dr Sylvia Blyden, has publicly thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for drawing international attention to what she described as a “systematic, religion-based genocide” in West Africa.
Her remarks followed a post by Trump in which he condemned the killing of thousands of Christians in Nigeria, allegedly at the hands of radical Islamist groups. In the post, Trump declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” and urged Congress to take immediate action to address what he described as an existential threat to Christianity in the region.
Reacting on social media, Dr Blyden praised Trump’s statement, contrasting it sharply with the foreign policies of former President Barack Obama.
“Thank you President Trump for flagging this ignored crisis using your global voice,” Blyden wrote. “The Obama administration botched the Libya situation with their dubious attack on Col. Muammar Gaddafi and the subsequent uncontrolled flow of arms in the hands of religious extremists. It was all caused by Obama’s inane foreign policy on Libya.”
She argued that the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya created a security vacuum that unleashed a cascade of armed insurgencies across North and West Africa.
“That Obama’s morass in 2011 is what created this spillover effect of terror that flowed from North Africa and is now ravaging West Africa; especially Nigeria,” she added. “President Trump, your powerful voice can start the process of ending what is clearly a systematic, religion-based genocide in West Africa. We are hopeful.”
Blyden concluded her message by again thanking Trump for “drawing attention to a crisis in West Africa which has been ignored for far too long.”
Founded in northeastern Nigeria in the early 2000s, Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, has waged a brutal insurgency aimed at establishing an Islamic state governed by its own interpretation of Sharia law. The group gained global prominence after the 2014 kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls from Chibok, sparking the international “#BringBackOurGirls” campaign.
While Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted Christian communities, churches, and clergy, the majority of its victims have been Muslim civilians, particularly those who oppose the group’s ideology or cooperate with government forces. The group’s violence, including bombings, mass abductions, and village raids has displaced millions across Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, destabilising much of the Lake Chad Basin.
Currently, the group is active in the Sambisa Forest, using guerrilla tactics to attack towns and villages in northern Nigeria.
