U.S. vows decisive military action against Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani militants in Nigeria
By Steve Oko | — Wawa News Global
In a blistering, unequivocal statement that reads like a declaration of war on terror, the United States has vowed to hunt down and destroy the militants accused of slaughtering Christians across Nigeria — and it has given both Abuja and the perpetrators a stark ultimatum.
“To Boko Haram, ISWAP, and the Fulani militants: you were wrong,” thundered U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in a statement obtained by Wawa News Global. “The United States military is the most lethal fighting force in human history, and we are coming for you. There will be no negotiations. There will be no warnings. There will be no sanctuary.”
The statement, issued November 1, 2025 and titled “A Message to the American People and the World,” follows a presidential directive to prepare operational plans aimed at protecting vulnerable Christian communities and eliminating the armed groups blamed for mass killings and village burnings across northern and central Nigeria.
A condensed, hard-hitting lead: • Hegseth accused militants of conducting what he called “genocide,” citing figures contained in the statement: 125,000 Christians killed since 2009; an average of 32 Christian deaths per day in 2025; more than 19,000 churches destroyed; and over 1,100 Christian communities “permanently erased.”
• He condemned the “deliberate erasure” by international media and blamed the Nigerian government for “inaction, corruption and complicity,” announcing an immediate suspension of U.S. military and financial aid to Nigeria unless it takes effective steps to protect its citizens.
• The secretary framed U.S. action as moral and unequivocal: “If you will not protect your Christian citizens, we will, with or without your permission.”
A commander’s language, a nation’s promise The remarks combine battlefield rhetoric with moral outrage. Hegseth — invoking his combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan — painted a graphic picture of burning villages and slaughtered civilians, and contrasted what he called sterile diplomatic language in the western press with what he insists is the plain reality: targeted religious slaughter.
“Some will call this intervention. Some will warn of unintended consequences,” he wrote. “These are the same voices that counseled restraint while 125,000 Christians were murdered. I am not interested in their advice.”
Technology and reach: a warning to militants The statement leaves little doubt about the methods the secretary promises to deploy: satellites, drones (“When you hear the Reaper overhead…”), trained operators and what he described as relentless kinetic pressure on militant hideouts — in jungles, deserts and mountains alike.
A final ultimatum, and a call to history Hegseth invoked centuries of Christian military responses to persecutions — reaching back to crusader-era language — to justify the planned U.S. response as both moral and necessary. “The world is watching to see if America still has the courage of its convictions. They are about to get their answer,” the statement concludes.
What follows below is the full text of the statement as obtained by Wawa News Global.
Full text (as provided to Wawa News Global) — Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War — November 1, 2025
> “There is no greater failure of leadership than knowing evil exists and choosing to look away. For years, the world has known that Christians in Nigeria are being systematically slaughtered, and the world has done nothing.
That ends now.
I am a soldier. I have fought terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know what Islamic extremism looks like when it targets the innocent. I know the smell of burning villages. I know the silence that follows mass murder. And I know the one truth that separates warriors from bureaucrats: evil only grows when good men fail to act.
In Nigeria, we are witnessing one of the greatest crimes against humanity in modern history, and it has been deliberately hidden, minimized, and explained away by those who lack the courage to name it.
Since 2009, 125,000 Christians have been killed for their faith in Nigeria. Let me repeat that, one hundred twenty-five thousand Christians murdered. In 2025 alone, we are averaging 32 Christian deaths per day. More than 19,000 churches have been destroyed — that’s three churches per day, every day, for sixteen years. Over 1,100 entire Christian communities have been permanently erased from the map.
This is not farmer-herder conflict. This is not climate change. This is not resource competition. This is genocide.
…When militants attack a Catholic church on Pentecost Sunday and slaughter 40 worshippers, that is not a land dispute. When armed jihadists raid Christian villages on Christmas Day, killing 300 people including children, that is not ethnic tension. When terrorists chant “Allahu Akbar” while burning families alive in their homes, that is not complexity, that is evil.
…This deliberate erasure, this refusal to name the victims and identify their murderers, is a form of complicity. The mainstream media has chosen narrative over truth, and in doing so, they have become enablers of genocide.
…On October 31, 2025, President Trump redesignated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. That designation came with a presidential directive to this Department: prepare operational plans to protect Christians and eliminate the terrorists who are slaughtering them.
…To the Nigerian government: You have enabled this genocide through your inaction, your corruption, and your complicity. All military and financial aid to your government is suspended effective immediately. If you will not protect your Christian citizens, we will, with or without your permission.
…The killers should know this — American warriors do not sleep. Our satellites see you. Our drones hunt you. Our operators train for you. You cannot hide in your jungles or your deserts or your mountains. When you hear the Reaper overhead, you may fall to your knees and beg for divine intervention. I have news for you… God heard your victims’ prayers first. We are His answer.
The world is watching to see if America still has the courage of its convictions. They are about to get their answer.
Pete Hegseth.
Secretary of War
United States of America.”
Editor’s note: This article reproduces and edits a statement supplied to Wawa News Global. The figures and declarations quoted above are drawn from that statement. Wawa News Global is seeking comment from the governments and groups named in the statement and will update this story with responses as they become available.
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