Tuberville says he supports sending US troops to Nigeria to protect Christians from slaughter

Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Wednesday expressed support for sending American troops to Nigeria to protect the nation's Christian population from Islamic extremists. 

The support comes after President Donald Trump threatened to send troops to the African country on Saturday and to withhold foreign aid if it does not stop the mass slaughter of Christians. 

Nigeria’s 236 million residents are largely divided between Christians and Muslims, with terror groups like Boko Haram carrying out systemic executions of Christians in that country in a bid to impose Islamic law.

When asked if he would support sending military troops to Nigeria, Tuberville told Fox News, "You bet I would." 

“Sixty-two thousand Christians killed in Nigeria, 100,000 killed in Africa, 18,000 churches burned," Tuberville remarked. "Now, there’s a lot of evidence there, and that’s probably an underestimate ... but we cannot allow this to happen to people that can’t defend themselves. 

“It’s just absolutely insane," he continued. "If we need to get involved in something like this, President Trump could end that in a heartbeat. This one wouldn’t be like going into Russia or China or North Korea or Iran. This would be going and helping innocent people that would be able to take back their country. It’s a shame something like this happened, but we can’t overlook it. We can’t underestimate it.”

Nigeria has rejected the prospect of a unilateral U.S. military action against Islamic militants within its borders, suggesting that Trump's comments were merely part of his diplomatic strategy.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.