Trump says Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria. The reality is more complicated

They got little food and sleep, were told to renounce Christianity, and saw two fellow hostages killed, four of the villagers who were eventually freed told The Associated Press in interviews at their church in the Ligari community, in Nigeria’s Kaduna state.

“I told my people even if they see my dead body, they should not deny Jesus and they should remain strong,” said the Rev. Micah Bulus, resident pastor of Kauna Baptist Church.

Since the attack last November, the community has experienced more violence, like much of the conflict-battered north. On Monday, gunmen abducted 25 schoolgirls and killed at least one staff member at a boarding school in Kebbi, another northwestern state.

In Ligari, villagers say nearly every household has seen a relative, friend or neighbor killed or abducted. It's part of the longstanding security crisis in Nigeria — a place now singled out by U.S. President Donald Trump for “the killing of Christians” by “radical Islamists.”

Victims and church leaders echo Trump's claims that Christians are persecuted. They say they’ve long been attacked, kidnapped or killed because of their faith.

But many insist the reality isn't as simple as Trump's narrative, which casts Christianity as facing an “existential threat” in Nigeria. Experts and residents say some attacks target Christians, but most emphasize that in the widespread violence that has long plagued the West African nation, everyone is a potential victim, regardless of background or belief.

“They don’t ask you whether you are a Muslim or a Christian,” 32-year-old Abdulmalik Saidu said of the gunmen regularly stalking his northwestern state, Zamfara. "All they want is just money from you. (Even) if you have money, sometimes they will kill you.”

Saidu, a Muslim, said his brother was shot dead during a kidnapping operation along a major highway, and the family never recovered his body, for fear of attacks. In Kaduna, an imam told AP that he's lost a grandson, cousin and brother, and his family has been displaced twice due to violence. Other religious leaders say mosques have been destroyed, people have fled, and desperate Muslims — like their Christian neighbors — have been forced to sell goods and belongings for ransom.

"The kind of pain we’ve gone through for the past years — this issue affects both faiths,” said the imam, Idris Ishaq.

‘A war against Nigeria’

Nigeria’s population of 220 million is split almost evenly between Christians, who live predominantly in the south, and Muslims, mostly in the north — where attacks have long been concentrated and where levels of illiteracy, poverty and hunger are among the country’s highest. Nationwide, Muslims constitute a slight majority.

Experts and data from two nonpartisan sources — the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project and Council on Foreign Relations — show Christians are often targets in a small percentage of overall attacks that appear to be motivated by religion, in some northern states.

But the numbers and analysts also indicate that across the north, most victims of overall violence are Muslims.

Analysts and residents blame the killings on rampant corruption that limits weapons supplies to security forces, the failure to prosecute attackers, and porous borders that ensure steady weapons supplies to gangs.

“These attacks are indiscriminate: They attack state institutions, they target Nigerians in their places of worship, they target Nigerians in civilian locations,” said Bulama Bukarti, a Nigerian conflict researcher and human rights lawyer. “In essence, it is a war against Nigeria.”

In the northeast, Boko Haram jihadi extremists and, more recently, an Islamic State-backed breakaway faction have since 2009 waged an insurgency to enforce their brutal interpretation of Shariah law. In 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls — mostly Christian, but some Muslim — from a school in Chibok, in Borno state. The unprecedented attack marked a new era of fear across Nigeria. Mass abductions, particularly of students, have been on the rise since.

In the northwest and central regions, rogue gangs attack villages, travelers and farming communities comprised mostly of Christians. The gangs aren't connected to Boko Haram and generally aren't motivated by religion. The ransoms they demand can reach thousands of dollars.

The Ligari community, with the church where 62 were kidnapped, is less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Kaduna's capital. But its rocky road, vast forest, and lack of security posts mean villagers get little security intervention.

“My wife has been kidnapped twice, and I have been kidnapped once,” said Micah Musa, a farmer who complained that officers never came to the family's aid. “Everything I had has been destroyed.”

Analysts say numbers can't tell the whole story

Trump named Nigeria a “country of particular concern” – a U.S. declaration for nations it says fail to act on religious freedom violations — and this month told defense officials to begin preparing for military action here. On Monday, the State Department reiterated to AP that the U.S. “stands ready, willing, and able to act” in Nigeria.

Trump's declaration followed a campaign by Republican lawmakers who say 100,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria — a figure also cited by TV talk-show host Bill Maher. The number now echoes among Nigeria's Christian communities, but experts say it's likely inflated.

The ACLED — which uses local news reports for its data — says 52,915 civilians have been killed in Nigeria through targeted political violence since 2009, with both Christian and Muslim victims.

“It is important to note that while attacks against Christians are both real and deeply concerning, communities across religious lines are affected,” said Ladd Serwat, senior Africa analyst at ACLED.

The Council on Foreign Relations’ Nigeria security tracker, which also uses news reports, shows that more than 100,000 Nigerians have died in armed violence since 2011 — but that figure includes civilians and security forces, which are overstretched and often targeted by gangs.

Analysts say breakdowns by religion simply aren't possible. Religious identities aren't always reported, recordkeeping amid violence is difficult, and attack motivations can be unclear.

Like Christians, some Muslims say they're targeted for their faith. Mosques have been attacked during prayers, and worshippers inside killed or abducted. Experts say that in all cases, religious or economic motives could be at play.

Desperate families strike deals with gangs

Arrests in attacks are rare. The lack of law enforcement has pushed some communities into deals with gangs, allowing them to access their farmlands — a sign of growing desperation.

“The message the government sends is that you can commit heinous crimes and get away with it,” researcher Bukarti said.

In June, gunmen killed at least 150 people in the Yelewata community in north-central Nigeria. Security forces arrived long after the attackers left, villager Titus Tsegba told AP. His wife and four children were among those killed.

After the November church attack in Kaduna, freed hostages said they felt abandoned, with no support from security forces. They noted that despite trekking through nearby communities for two days to the kidnappers' hideout, they saw no law enforcement presence.

Some deals with gangs have resulted in fewer killings, Kaduna pastor Simon Shuaibu said. But villagers depend on farming, he said, and gangs force them to pay before harvesting or face kidnapping.

Tabitha Danladi, 55, and her husband were kidnapped in June. She was released and told to raise money to free him, she said.

“I’ve sold everything," said Danladi, who struggles to feed her four children while paying the ransoms. "But we don’t know if he’s still alive.”

To some, Trump's words bring hope

When Trump threatened military intervention, Nigerian officials largely rejected the notion.

But some see it as a wake-up call for a government they say has ignored them.

“Many Nigerians have reacted to Trump's statements with, at minimum, anger and frustration at the Nigerian government, if not in some cases an outright embrace of the possibility of a U.S. intervention," said James Barnett, an Africa researcher with the Washington-based Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.

In Kaduna, the Rev. John Hayab, a Baptist pastor, said Trump brought needed attention.

"If there’s any voice that can wake them up ... please let that voice be increased,” he said. “We’ve been crying out all these years; actions were not taken.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.