Nicki Minaj has thanked President Donald Trump for his 'leadership' in 'prioritizing' the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria while speaking on behalf of his administration at the United Nations. 

On Thursday, the rapper took the podium at the UN to highlight alleged religious persecution in the West African nation, an issue that has surged into global headlines and prompted US Ambassador Mike Waltz to invite her to appear at the event.

President Trump accused Nigeria's government of 'allowing the killing of Christians' earlier this month, and issued threats to cut off aid or even deploy the US military to the region in response.

Human rights campaigners say Islamist militants have been systematically targeting Christian communities for years and claim the jihadist group Boko Haram's insurgency has killed more than 100,000 people since 2009. 

The figures are difficult to independently verify, while the Nigerian government has dismissed the allegations as 'a gross misrepresentation of reality.'

Now world famous popstar Minaj has praised Trump's 'dedication' to the issue, commending his administration for advocating urgent action 'to combat extremism and end violence against those who simply want to exercise their natural right to freedom of religion or belief.'

'Music has taken me around the globe. I have seen how people no matter their language, culture or religion, come alive when they hear a song that touches their soul,' Minaj said at the UN.

'Religious freedom means we all can sing our faith regardless of who we are, where we live and what we believe,' she added. 'But today, faith is under attack in way too many places.'

According to Emeka Umeagbalasi, the founder of Nigeria's International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), the country's Christian population is being pushed to the brink of extinction.

In an even grimmer warning, he claimed that without immediate international intervention, the population could disappear within two generations amid the 'silent, systematic genocide' sweeping across Africa's most populous nation. 

Many of the country's 109 million Christians - nearly half the nation's population - endure harassment, intimidation and the constant threat of sudden attack, he said, which is only getting worse.

Umeagbalasi said attackers follow a chilling pattern, striking at night, shooting villagers, burning their churches and destroying their property.

The attacks have left millions of Nigerian Christians living in constant fear of slaughter, he said.

Minaj drew attention to the online videos depicting extreme violence, so disturbing that viewers debated whether they were AI-created.

'Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes and killed. Churches have burned, families have been torn apart and entire communities live in fear constantly simply because of how they pray,' the rapper said at the podium.

'Sadly, this problem is not only a growing problem in Nigeria, but so many countries across the world and it demands urgent action,' she added.

'I want to be clear, protecting Christians in Nigeria is not about taking sides or dividing people. It is about uniting humanity.'

Before finishing her address to global leaders, she made clear that her intention was to leverage her platform in the fight against injustice.

'It's about what I've always stood for my entire career and I will continue to stand for that for the rest of my life,' she said.

In a rapid-fire series of more than 30 Truth Social posts over three hours earlier this month, Trump threatened that he may send US troops 'guns a-blazing, to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible, horrible atrocities.'

The rhetoric has sent shockwaves through Nigeria, especially after the Trump administration added it to the US list of 'countries of particular concern', alongside China, Afghanistan and others, for alleged violations of religious freedom.

In response, Nigeria's information minister, Mohammed Idris, branded claims of a Christian genocide as 'false, baseless, despicable and divisive,' with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu insisting that the nation is not 'religiously intolerant.'

Activist Umeagbalasi's chilling warning came after armed men, believed to be militant Fulani herders, stormed farming villages on the Plateau–Kaduna border in late October.

They shot indiscriminately at villagers, torched homes and left bodies scattered across fields and courtyards. Dozens were reported killed and wounded, according to International Christian Concern.

Umeagbalasi said that roughly 150,000 Christians have been killed over the past 16 years, with another 30,000 Muslims also murdered in the violence. 

According to experts in the region, the reality is more complicated than a religious war between Christians and Islamic terrorists.

It is true that death is spiralling in the nation: at least 2,266 people were killed in the first half of 2025, compared to 2,194 for the whole of 2024, according to Nigeria's human rights agency.

However, that figure includes both Christian and Muslim victims, who each make up roughly half of Nigeria's population of 232 million, with the former in the south and the latter in the north, where killers don't discriminate based on religion.