Trump Asks Tinubu to Protect Nigerian Christians — But Who Will Protect the Muslims?
22 January, 2026
by Mohammed Bello Doka
When President Donald Trump publicly urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to protect the lives of Nigerian Christians, the world listened. Headlines followed. Statements were amplified. Diplomatic muscles were flexed. The message was loud and unmistakable: Christian lives matter, and powerful voices are willing to speak for them.
That call, on its face, is not wrong. Every Nigerian life deserves protection. Every citizen, regardless of faith, deserves safety. But Trump’s intervention exposes a far more disturbing and unresolved question — one the global community seems unwilling to confront:
Who will protect the Muslims?
Because while the world rallies when Christians are attacked, Muslims in Nigeria are dying in far greater numbers — and dying largely in silence.
This is not conjecture. It is not sentiment. It is a documented, recurring, brutal reality that has been carefully stripped of outrage, urgency, and even language.
Muslims Killed Where They Worship — Dates, Places, and Records
In northern Nigeria, Muslims have not only been killed in villages, on highways, or on their farms. They have been killed inside mosques. They have been killed during prayers. They have been killed while bowing, prostrating, and responding to the call of Allah. These are not disputed claims. They are on record.
On November 28, 2014, Reuters and Associated Press reported that Boko Haram suicide bombers attacked the Grand Mosque in Kano State during Friday prayers, killing over 120 Muslim worshippers and injuring hundreds more. The attack occurred at the height of Jumu’ah prayers, when the mosque was filled with congregants. Bodies were left scattered across the mosque complex. The victims were Muslims at worship.
On November 21, 2017, Reuters, AP, and BBC reported that a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in Mubi, Adamawa State, during early morning (fajr) prayers, killing at least 50 Muslim worshippers. Survivors told reporters that the bomber waited until prayers had begun before detonating the device. The victims were killed while praying.
On March 16, 2016, Reuters and AP reported coordinated suicide bombings at mosques in Maiduguri, Borno State, during evening prayers, killing Muslim worshippers and injuring many others. These attacks targeted mosques deliberately and repeatedly, turning places of worship into scenes of carnage.
On January 17, 2020, Reuters reported that gunmen attacked a mosque in Borno State, killing worshippers during prayers, as part of ongoing insurgent violence that explicitly targeted Muslim civilians accused of cooperating with authorities.
Beyond terrorism, banditry has followed the same pattern. In Katsina State, Reuters reported on August 19, 2022, that armed bandits stormed a mosque during early morning prayers, killing worshippers at close range before fleeing into surrounding forests. Survivors told reporters that the attackers opened fire without warning on men kneeling in prayer.
These were not clashes.
These were not accidents.
These were not crossfire casualties.
These were deliberate massacres of Muslim worshippers, documented by international media — Reuters, Associated Press, BBC, and others — with dates, locations, and eyewitness accounts.
Some victims were killed in sujood, their foreheads pressed to the ground in submission to Allah. Others died clutching Qur’ans. Mosques — meant to be sanctuaries of peace — were turned into execution grounds.
Yet these killings did not provoke presidential ultimatums.
They did not attract threats of sanctions.
They did not inspire talk of “existential threats.”
The victims were Muslims.
And Muslim deaths, it appears, do not travel well.
The Numbers Nobody Wants to Frame Honestly
Northern Nigeria is overwhelmingly Muslim. This is a demographic fact, not a political position. Banditry, terrorism, and insurgency ravaging the region therefore kill more Muslims in absolute numbers.
From Zamfara to Katsina, from Borno to Niger, from Sokoto to Kebbi, entire Muslim villages have been wiped out. Farmers slaughtered on their land. Traders abducted and executed. Children orphaned. Women widowed. Communities erased.
Yet when these deaths are reported, religion disappears from the narrative. Muslim victims are folded into vague language: insecurity, bandit attacks, rural violence. The faith of the dead is deliberately muted.
But when Christians are attacked, religion is immediately foregrounded — rightly or wrongly — and the world responds accordingly.
This is not a hierarchy of suffering.
It is a hierarchy of attention.
And it reveals an uncomfortable truth: Muslim blood in Nigeria has been normalised.
Selective Outrage and the Politics of Sympathy
Outrage today is not distributed evenly. It is curated. It is political. It follows power, media narratives, and global interests.
Church attacks, which are horrific and indefensible, provoke international statements and diplomatic pressure. Mosque massacres, equally horrific, are quietly absorbed into statistics.
The message is subtle but unmistakable: some victims deserve global advocates; others deserve silence.
Is a Nigerian life only valuable when it fits a Western religious narrative?
Does suffering only matter when it aligns with geopolitical talking points?
If Christians deserve protection — and they do — then Muslims deserve no less.
Anything short of that is not concern for human life. It is selective morality.
The Deafening Silence of the Muslim World
Perhaps even more painful than global indifference is the silence from within the Muslim world itself.
Where are the strong public statements from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, or Iran?
Where are the emergency summits?
Where are the ultimatums, the threats, the sanctions, the loud condemnations?
They do not exist.
Muslims are slaughtered in Nigeria — sometimes inside mosques — and the capitals of the Muslim world remain diplomatically comfortable. Oil flows. Investments continue. Palaces remain silent.
This silence is not accidental. It is political. And it is damning.
Muslim lives in Nigeria have become diplomatically expendable.
Silence at Home: Political Cowardice in Nigeria
Even within Nigeria, Muslim suffering has no outspoken political champions.
No major politician has stood before the nation to say: Muslims are being massacred in their mosques, and this is unacceptable. Instead, leaders retreat into safe generalisations.
Why?
Fear.
Fear of controversy.
Fear of labels.
Fear of losing power.
So Muslims die — and politicians generalise.
The state speaks of “all Nigerians,” while specific communities bleed quietly. Neutral language becomes a shield for inaction.
This Is Not a Religious War — But Religion Is Used Selectively
Nigeria’s crisis is not a war between Islam and Christianity. It is a catastrophic failure of governance, security, and state authority. Terrorists kill Muslims and Christians alike.
But the world insists on framing only one side’s suffering in religious terms.
This selective framing distorts reality, deepens mistrust, and solves nothing. Worse, it breeds resentment — a dangerous soil in which extremism thrives.
Ignoring Muslim suffering does not promote peace.
It endangers it.
The Qur’anic Lens: Justice Without Selectivity
Islam is unequivocal on justice. Allah does not recognise selective empathy.
“O you who believe! Stand firmly for justice, as witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or your parents and relatives.”
(Qur’an 4:135)
Justice that depends on who is watching is not justice.
Compassion that depends on power is hypocrisy.
Allah warns against ignoring oppression simply because it is inconvenient:
“And what is wrong with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and for the oppressed among men, women, and children?”
(Qur’an 4:75)
The oppressed in Nigeria include Muslims slaughtered in mosques — whether the world acknowledges them or not.
The Dangerous Cost of Silence
Silence has consequences.
When Muslim suffering is ignored:
Resentment festers.
Trust in the state erodes.
Radical voices exploit grievance.
National cohesion weakens.
This silence is not only unjust — it is strategically foolish. No nation can survive when large segments of its population feel invisible.
A Hard Truth for the Ummah
There is a bitter truth Muslims must confront.
Many powerful Muslims have chosen comfort over courage.
Many wealthy Muslim states have chosen diplomacy over dignity.
Many Muslims themselves have chosen fear over truth, wealth over justice, and submission to power over submission to Allah.
But history teaches us something powerful: Islam never depended on kings to survive.
Allah Is the Protector When Power Fails
When presidents fail, Allah remains.
When kings remain silent, Allah is not silent.
When Muslims abandon each other, Allah does not abandon the oppressed.
“And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know.”
(Qur’an 12:21)
Those Muslims killed in mosques were not forgotten.
They were witnessed by Allah.
Their blood was not wasted.
“And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision.”
(Qur’an 3:169)
Empires fall. Narratives shift. Power changes hands.
But Allah remains Al-Hafeez — the Ultimate Protector.
Trump may speak for Nigerian Christians.
But Allah speaks for the Muslims — whether the world listens or not.
And on the Day when silence is no longer possible, those who chose comfort over justice will have to answer — not to presidents, not to kings, but to the Lord of all worlds.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via bellodoka82@gmail.com
Dear Readers, Good and credible news reportage is tedious task and requires huge finances.
We are soliciting your Noble support for as low as N1,000 your support would go a long way in assisting us to continue to guarantee our readers quality news.
Bank transfers can be made to:
Account Name: Harvest and Commercial
Bank: Sterling Bank
Account Number: 0078627735