Orji Kalu, senator representing Abia north, has defended United States (U.S) president Donald Trump’s comments on the recent spate of killings in Nigeria, saying the U.S president told the truth.
Reacting to Trump’s remarks at the national assembly on Tuesday, November 11, Kalu said, “If it’s a lie, then the answer is that it’s not a lie because he said the truth. Nigerians are being killed whether they are Christians or Muslims.
“There are jihadists who just want to destroy Nigeria. We should blacklist them without pity so that they will be smoked out,” he added.
Kalu said he had discussed Nigeria’s security situation with two former U.S presidents, one Republican and one Democrat, and with six current U.S senators, all of whom, he claimed, expressed readiness to assist Nigeria in tackling terrorism.
“Before president Trump says a word, the American intelligence community must have found out where these terrorists are located,” Kalu said.
“You can see that the Nigerian air force is already acting, possibly using information shared by the U.S to bomb terrorist hideouts. That’s how it should be.”
Describing himself as pro-America, the former Abia governor argued that part of today’s global instability resulted from the removal of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, which, he said, led to the proliferation of weapons across Africa.
“When you killed Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein, it became a problem because those people were maintaining their borders. After their deaths, light and heavy arms spilled all over the world and we are suffering from it today,” he said.
Kalu rejected claims that the U.S was targeting president Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying the focus was on jihadist groups responsible for insecurity.
“Nigerians are clapping and political opponents are thinking that the U.S is after Tinubu’s government. No! They are going after the jihadists,” he said.
On October 31, Trump labelled Nigeria a “country of particular concern” and accused the government of turning a blind eye to attacks on Christians.
Days later he ordered the U.S department of defense to prepare for possible action against Islamic terrorist groups in Nigeria.
Comments