Nigeria's Minister for Foreign Affairs Yusuf Maitama Tuggar addresses the "Summit of the Future" in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 22, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

By Friederike Heine

BERLIN (Reuters) - Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said on Tuesday that state involvement in religious persecution was "impossible" in Nigeria under the country's laws and constitution.

He was responding to a question about U.S. President Donald Trump's warning of possible "fast" military action in Nigeria if it fails to crack down on the killing of Christians by Islamist insurgents.

Speaking in Berlin alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, Tuggar pointed to his country's "constitutional commitment to religious freedom and rule of law."

"This is what shows that it's impossible for there to be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level, be it federal, be it regional, be it local, it's impossible," he said.

Trump announced on Truth Social last weekend that his government would immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer.

If the United States sends in military forces, it would go in "'guns-a-blazing,' to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities," Trump wrote.

HELP US CHECKMATE ACTS OF TERRORISM

Speaking after a meeting of security chiefs late on Monday, Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff General Olufemi Oluyede said the country faced terrorism, not persecution of Christians.

"So if we have countries out there who are ready to support Nigeria, we are ready to have them on board to help us checkmate the acts of terrorism within our space," he said.

The Nigerian presidency has said it would welcome U.S. help in fighting Islamist insurgents as long as the country's territorial integrity is respected.

In northern Kaduna, one of the northwestern states most affected by violence against Muslims and Christians, leading Muslim cleric Ahmed Gumi said Trump's comments risked further inflaming tensions in the country.

Gumi, who has faced criticism for negotiating with armed groups, said the government should work to reduce poverty in northern Nigeria to help end insecurity.

"Just do what you are supposed to do as a government. Build schools for them, build hospitals for them, good markets for them, good roads for them, give them grazing areas so they feel there's a government," Gumi told Reuters inside a mosque.

(Reporting by Friederike Heine, additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe in Lagos and Abraham Achirga in Kaduna; editing by Matthias Williams and Madeline Chambers)